The effects of autonomy support and psychological capital on readiness for independent living through personal growth initiative among youth in out-of-home care

Abstract

This study explored the effects of the factors on independent living readiness among youth under out-of-home care. Specifically, this study focused on the effects of caregivers' autonomy support and psychological capital on independent living readiness through personal growth initiative. A total of 215 youth who were expected to be discharged from caring institution within three years were gathered for the survey, and the final sample was 194 after excluding incomplete responses. Structural equation modeling with Mplus (version 7) was used to test research model and hypotheses in the study. Results showed that the research model was appropriated with several fit indices satisfied and that all the hypotheses were supported. Also, direct and indirect effects of independent variables were fully supported. However, the indirect effect of psychological capital was marginally significant. The results implicate that both caregiver's autonomy support and psychological capital are important for increasing personal growth initiative and that personal growth initiative served as a motivation to facilitating the readiness for independent living among children under institutional care. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd