Using a sample of N = 106 ethnic minority children (clustered in 62 families), we hypothesized that the number (ranging from 0 to 5) and types (i.e., ethnic status, country of birth, and spoken language) of cultural dissimilarity factors between biological and foster families contribute to child internalizing symptoms (CDI depression and LSD loneliness) and externalizing problems (ECBI conduct) after considering family and agency clustering and adjusting for confound variables (child age, gender, and severity of child maltreatment).
Results showed that a higher number of dissimilar types and certain types contributed to lower scores in child psychological adjustment. Dissimilar ethnic status between caregivers contributes to CDI depression and LSD loneliness symptoms while dissimilar spoken language between caregivers contributed to ECBI conduct problems in the foster home. These results inform the public policy debate of transethnic placements for children involved in the foster care system.