Comparing Multi‐Informant Perspectives on Adolescents' Development and Psychological Adjustment in Residential Care Within the Collaborating Families Program

ABSTRACT Several studies highlight the importance of the family in the development of children and adolescents under protection measures. In Spain, the Collaborating Families program allows children and adolescents in protection centres to share time with families during weekends, holidays or vacations. Specifically, the aim of this work, which was focused on the region of Andalusia (Spain), was to assess the improvement in the personal and academic development of 37 adolescents during their participation in the Collaborating Families program, at the beginning of the collaboration and at the time of the study, and from the perspective of their 37 collaborating families and their 37 residential caregivers. To this end, a semi‐structured interview was used. In addition, a comparison was made between the assessments of both informants in the two time periods studied. Finally, the relationships between the adolescents' development and psychological adjustment ( Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire , SDQ ) at the time of the study were analysed and the scores given by both informants and adolescents themselves (111 informants in total) were also compared. The results showed that the collaborating families and residential caregivers perceived a positive and significant evolution in the personal and academic development of the adolescents during their participation in the Collaborating Families program. In addition, it was found that the collaborating families expressed a significantly more positive view of these aspects of development than the residential caregivers. Finally, significant relationships were also found between the adolescents' psychological adjustment and their personal and academic development, with the scores of the adolescents themselves and of the collaborating families being more positive than those of the residential caregivers. These results suggest that collaborating families should be promoted as a support network that favours the development and adjustment of adolescents in residential care.