Abstract
Research on the subjective experience of transitioning to adulthood among young people aging out of foster care is scarce. Accordingly, this study investigated 26 Italian care leavers’ self and personal history perceptions. Thematic analysis was conducted using in-depth interview data. Two major themes emerged—personal strengths that may lead to strong personal and relational adjustment, and difficulties related to a critical personal and relational functioning—suggesting that the family fostering experience may lead to different perceptions of self, others, and one’s own history that influence the development of care leavers’ identity while transitioning to adulthood, with noteworthy implications for practice.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Data availability
The dataset analyzed in the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in this study that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Italian Psychology Association and the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants included in the study.