Background: Prior research has established a strong association between childhood experiences of out-of-home care (OHC) and adult criminal offending. Disruptions of this pathway, however, remain insufficiently explored. From a life-course perspective, educational attainment may function as a key turning point, fostering resilience and reducing the risk of offending in individuals with OHC experiences.

Objective: This study investigates the extent to which educational attainment, here operationalized as completion of upper secondary school, mediates and/or modifies the relationship between childhood OHC placement and adult criminal behavior. The analysis examines three dimensions of offending – conviction, incarceration, and violent crime – stratified by sex.

Participants and Setting: Data from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigen cohort (n ≈ 14,000) was utilized, comprising individuals born in 1953 in Sweden.

Methods: Four-way decomposition analyses were conducted to distinguish the mediating and interactive effects of educational attainment.

Findings: OHC placement was associated with higher odds of adult conviction, incarceration and violent crime. Educational attainment explained 70-95 percent of this association through mediation and/or interaction, with interaction being substantially more influential than mediation. The protective effect of education was more pronounced for severe offending among men.

Conclusions: Educational attainment substantially disrupts the pathway from OHC to criminal offending, primarily through interactive mechanisms. Policy efforts promoting educational attainment among OHC-experienced youth may significantly reduce offending risks. However, achieving such outcomes requires broader support to facilitate educational success and long-term resilience.