Racial and Ethnic Differences in Relations Between Childhood Adversity and Psychological Adjustment Among Child Welfare-Involved Youth: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review examined the extent of evidence that meaningfully examines racial/ethnic differences in the association between childhood adversity and psychological adjustment among child welfare-involved youth and synthesized findings. We pre-registered our study rationale and methodological and analytic plan in PROSPERO (#CRD42022350707). We conducted a search for articles on May 11, 2022, in APA PsycInfo, Academic Search Complete, CENTRAL, Child Development and Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Family Studies Abstracts, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PubMed, Social Services Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, SocINDEX, Web of Science, and Violence & Abuse Abstracts. Inclusion criteria included: written in English, peer-reviewed, quantitative analysis, examined the association between childhood adversity and psychological adjustment and examined racial/ethnic differences using moderation or multiple group modeling, and included a sample of child welfare-involved youth (i.e., 0–18 years) in the United States. Two reviewers independently screened articles for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed quality. The final sample included 13 articles. There was evidence of racial/ethnic differences in the association between childhood adversity and psychological adjustment; however, some studies found that there were no significant differences across racial/ethnic groups. Variability in findings may be due to inconsistent assessment of childhood adversity and psychological adjustment, differences in sample age ranges and in how race/ethnicity was examined, and/or lack of power. Racial/ethnic differences were primarily between White, Black, and Hispanic racial/ethnic groups, and most studies were cross-sectional. It is important for future research to examine whether racial/ethnic differences exist in the association between childhood adversity and psychological adjustment over time.