Children in family foster care have a specific set of psychosocial needs, stemming from previous caregiving, (traumatic) experiences, and living in a foster family. Foster parents are expected to learn about these needs and... [ view full abstract ]
Children in family foster care have a specific set of psychosocial needs, stemming from previous caregiving, (traumatic) experiences, and living in a foster family. Foster parents are expected to learn about these needs and incorporate them into their parenting and nurturing. When children have a history of sexual abuse prior to placement, foster parents are more often challenged with behavioral, emotional and educational difficulties and sexual risk behavior. In general, studies have focused on the problems encountered by this group, with a focus on the prevalence of behavioral problems, placement breakdowns, and possible interventions that could be used to minimize this. Yet, needs as described by Maslow (1943), and Deci and Ryan (1985) have not received much attention, even though this can guide foster parents in their caregiving practices. This study therefore aims to describe what children in foster care consider their most important needs, how these needs can be met during their foster care placement and how these needs differ for children with a history of sexual abuse.
First, based on interviews with 15 adolescent and former foster youth (ages 15-23) and 7 foster care workers in The Netherlands, 45 statements describing possible psychosocial needs of foster children were constructed. Examples are: ‘I want to have a nice time with my biological parents during contact visits’ and ‘I want to be able to take time and space to think about and process my past’. Second, a Q-sort methodology was chosen to capture the subjective opinions of (former) foster children about their most important needs. The 44 (former) foster children that participated in the Q-sort study were aged 16 to 28 (M = 21, SD = 2.9), were mostly woman (80%) and 15 had experienced sexual abuse during their childhood. The participants sorted the statements in a set grid, ranging from ‘most important’ to ‘most unimportant’, according to their own personal point of view. Using the program PQMethod, three principal component factor analyses with varimax rotations were performed on the participant’s Q-sorts (by-person factor analysis). In the first two analyses, we included participants with and without sexual abuse experiences separately. Participants who found similar needs important or unimportant were grouped together in a factor. The third analysis was a higher order factor analysis, comparing the factors of both the abused and non-abused groups to search for similarities and differences in their needs.
The results show that the needs of the non-abused group were focused on people they do (or explicitly do not) want to have a close relationship with, for example with their foster or biological parents. In contrast, the abused group was more focused on themselves and on what other people could do for them. The second order factor analysis confirmed this, and showed that although some needs between the abused and non-abused group overlapped, the abused group also had a specific set of needs. This group strongly felt foster parents and foster care professionals should help them, while warm relationships with those people seemed less important.
In conclusion, although some needs seem equally important for all foster children, both groups show inter-individual differences in what they consider their most important needs. In addition, the analysis shows that for the children with a history of sexual abuse, using other people’s help as a resource is more important than developing close relationships. This study provides researchers, practitioners and foster parents insight into the needs of foster children and how these differ on an inter-individual level, especially for children with and without a history of sexual abuse. The next step is to optimally meet the needs of this diverse population.
Family foster care and adoption , Participation of children and families in child welfare interventions
