Journal of Student Research 2023

Exploring Family Dynamics, Mental Health, and Well-Being Among College Students...

23

Study Purpose Given the gaps in the literature on the perceptions of college foster youth regarding their foster family dynamics and mental health, this study sought to explore the experiences of post-secondary students with foster care histories; specifically, perceptions of foster family dynamics, mental health (i.e., anxiety), and well-being. The research questions for this study were: (1) What are the experiences of former foster college youth with regard to their foster family dynamics and (2) What are the experiences of former foster college youth with regard to their mental health and well-being?

Method Participant Recruitment and Description

Participants were former foster youth who were either currently enrolled in post-high school education or had previously attended post-high school education. Additional criteria for inclusion in the study were that participants had to be at least 18 years old and part of the foster care system as a child or adolescent. Upon receiving Institutional Review Board (IRB #202204149) approval, data for this study were collected using a variety of methods, including (1) social media (e.g., Fostering Youth Independence (FYI) Facebook page, and (2) emails to programs aimed at providing guidance and resources to former foster care youth within the University of Wisconsin System (i.e., Directors of Trio, Student Support Services, and Fostering Success Programs) as well as two large fostering/adoption organizations (Foster Nation and Children’s Home Society and Family Services). Of the 85 individuals who clicked the link and consented to participate, 56 clicked “yes” to a) being 18 years or older, b) currently enrolled or previously enrolled at a college, university, technical, vocational, or trade school, and c) having been in foster care as a child or adolescent, and thus were eligible to participate and completed the entire survey. Upon starting the survey, participants were presented with informed consent followed by a description of the study. If participants agreed to the terms and met the criteria, they were then provided with a series of Likert-scale questions, five open-ended questions, and demographic questions. At the end of the survey, a list of local and national resources for accessing mental health and support services was provided. Participants were provided with the opportunity to enter a drawing (on a separate survey not linked to their data) for one of 15 $25 Amazon gift cards. First, data were exported from Qualtrics and downloaded to an Excel document with numeric and text responses. Data from the 85 participants who clicked on the survey link were then cleaned and all variables were screened for missing data and recorded to accommodate variations in the data and determine agreement in scale item values. Individuals who responded “no” to the first two questions were not included in the final sample. Individuals who did not respond to survey questions beyond the first eleven questions were deleted from the database (n = 8), resulting in a total sample of 56 participants. Procedures