Psychosocial well-being of child orphans: The influence of current living place

Abstract

When children lose one or both their parents/care givers, they may present with profound and lifelong psychosocial well-being problems. This study aimed to examine the association between current living place and the psychosocial well-being of child orphans. A proportional stratified sample of 240 Ethiopian orphan children (female = 44.2%; institutional care = 42.9%; mean age = 15 years, SD = 6.78 years, range = 11 to18 years) completed measures of psychosocial well-being including the strengths and difficulties questionnaire and the multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Following multiple regression analysis, results indicated that institutional living is associated higher emotional symptoms and hyperactivity symptoms, and lower pro-social behaviour. An orphan’s living situation appears to affect the orphan’s well-being.