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A new report suggests that children in care are turning their backs on foster care in favour of living in children's homes.

The research by Save the Children in Scotland came up with the surprise conclusion following a small study of young people aged 15 to 25.

The findings run contrary to the established belief and practice that children and young people favour being looked after in a family environment.

But the charity stressed the research involved a very small sample and called for more research to be done on a wider to scale on the experiences of children in care before the Scottish Executive makes any future changes to the balance between foster and residential placements in Scotland.

Some young people told the researchers that they were less likely to be abused or neglected in a children's home because they were more transparent and many young people preferred residential care because they were more likely to offer long-term stability

Frequent moves between foster placements and schools can have a serious impact on a child's ability to build trusting and ongoing relationships, and can adversely affect their education.

The report said: "Frequent moves between foster homes were seen as the norm, despite the popular myth that foster placements are longer term arrangements."

The children and young people saw being moved about frequently as detrimental and many spoke of feeling abandoned when they were moved between placements and schools.

They were rarely consulted, and often received no notice - even having their belongings packed in their absence, the study found.

But the longer-term nature of residential care means friendships are less likely to be disrupted.

Children and young people also do not see foster care as necessarily being an appropriate alternative to their own families and can resent the often poor replication of 'family life', said the report.

Many felt they could not relax in foster homes, partly because it was somebody else's house, but mainly because they were wary of carers usurping the role of their own parents. Some also often felt the foster carer's own children were given preferential treatment which increases their sense of alienation.

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"I never gained any family life, because I never had any," says Alison, now 20. "I was with foster families but...I felt I was put to the side."

Some children reported that the allowance paid to the foster carer was spent on things unrelated to their care.

Foster care was also seen as having more rules and idiosyncracies and less privileges than residential care with foster carers often being older people with limited training in childcare and counselling.

Residential care was seen as more relaxed with other young people sharing common interests, along with a wealth of different adult personalities and perspectives.

Some also suggested the likelihood of a higher incidence of neglect or physical abuse in foster care than residential care due to the lack of transparency in a private environment.

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