MONDAY, Oct. 17, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Children in foster care face increased risks of physical and mental health issues, from asthma to ADHD to depression, a new study finds.
Considering the adversity foster children face, the study results aren’t surprising, the researchers added.
But this is the first study to compare their rates of health issues to those of U.S. children as a whole, including kids from low-income or single-parent families.
The study confirms that children in foster care are particularly vulnerable, said lead researcher Kristin Turney, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine.
And they were five to seven times more likely to have behavioral issues or symptoms of depression or anxiety.
No one is saying that foster care caused those problems, Turney stressed. “We can’t conclude that foster care created them, or made them worse,” she said.
The point, according to Turney, was to paint a clearer picture of how U.S. foster children are faring.