Abstract

CASSARINO-PEREZ, Luciana; MONTSERRAT, Carme  and  SARRIERA, Jorge Castellà. Future Expectations of Adolescents Aging Out of Care in Brazil. Av. Psicol. Latinoam. [online]. 2022, vol.40, n.3, 2.  Epub July 04, 2023. ISSN 1794-4724.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/apl/a.9407.

Expectations for the future of adolescents aging out of care have a determinant influence on short and long-term outcomes. In Brazil, care leavers experience the transition to adult life largely unsupported. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the aspects that favor better future expectations of Brazilian adolescents who are aging out of care. The study participants were 190 male (55.8 %) and female (44.2 %) adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age (M = 15.92, SD = 1.00) from three Brazilian capitals. The discriminant analysis technique was used to identify profile characteristics that significantly distinguished two groups: adolescents with high and those with low expectations for the future. The results reveal that (1) the aspect that most contributes to the increase in future expectations is the perceived social support, (2) the greater the readiness to leave care and the satisfaction with life, the better the future expectations, and (3) participating in an employment-assistance program brought down the adolescents' future expectations. These results point to the importance of preparation to leave care, combining instrumental support with socio-emotional support and considering the adolescents as the protagonists of their process and plans.

Keywords : Care leavers; residential care; child welfare; future expectations; social support.

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