Objectives: Many children who enter foster care experience high levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems (Clausen et al., 1998; James, 2004), and it is worrisome that during a stay in a foster family these... [ view full abstract ]
Objectives: Many children who enter foster care experience high levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems (Clausen et al., 1998; James, 2004), and it is worrisome that during a stay in a foster family these problems do not decrease (Goemans, Van Geel, & Vedder, 2015). Even more so because foster children’s problem behaviors, especially externalizing problems, are a major reason for placement breakdown (Oosterman et al., 2007). Parenting is one of the major influences on children’s externalizing behavior (Combs-Ronto, Olson, Lunkenheimer, & Sameroff, 2009). This is not a unidirectional process leading from parent to child; children also have an impact on their parents (Patterson, 1982). However scant research has tested reciprocal associations between externalizing behavior and parenting. The aim of the current study was therefore to examine in a three-wave longitudinal study the psychosocial functioning of foster children in a transactional perspective (Sameroff, 2009). In this presentation we will focus on the interplay between foster child (externalizing behaviors) and foster family (negative and positive parenting) factors over time. In addition, we examine the age dependence of this phenomenon.
Method: Preliminary analyses are presented about a group of 167 children in regular foster care. Participants in this three-wave longitudinal study were between 3 and 17 years old (M = 10.15, SD = 3.97), including 91 boys (54.5%) and 76 girls (45.5%). Mean time in the current foster placement was 58.18 months (SD = 46.11). Foster children were followed from October 2014 till October 2015, throughout their stay in the foster family. For each wave, foster parents were asked to complete an online questionnaire containing questions about the foster child, the foster family and the foster placement. To measure the psychosocial functioning of the foster children, de Dutch version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for parents was used (Van Widenfelt, Goedhart, Treffers, & Goodman, 2003). Negative and positive parenting were measured using the Dutch version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (Van Lier & Crijnen, 1999).
Results: Cross-lagged path analyses using EQS 6.2 were performed to investigate the longitudinal associations between parenting and children’s externalizing behavior problems. The first model on children’s externalizing behavior and negative parenting fit the data well χ² (df=3) = 4.918, p = .178, RMSEA = 0.068, 90% CI [.000, . 170], CFI = .997, SRMR = .082. Children’s externalizing behaviors influenced negative parenting at a later time point, however negative parenting did not predict children’s externalizing problems later in time. The second model on children’s externalizing behavior and positive parenting showed good fit indexes as well, χ² (df=3) = 0.476, p = .924, RMSEA = 0.000, 90% CI [.000, .047], CFI = 1.000, SRMR = .014. In contrast to the first model, it seems that there is an interplay between foster child and foster family factors: externalizing behavior was both predictive of and predicted by positive parenting. Multigroup analyses for the first and the second model were performed to examine whether the interplay between externalizing behaviors and parenting was dependent of age ( 10 years).
Conclusions: Foster parents’ negative parenting was affected by children’s externalizing problems, but these externalizing problems were not affected by negative parenting. Positive parenting on the other hand was affected by children’s externalizing problem behaviors, but also affected these behavior problems. The interplay between children’s externalizing behaviors and positive parenting provides implications for research and practice. Family support services aimed at supporting foster parents in their positive parenting may be effective in reducing foster children’s externalizing behavior problems and thereby reduce the risk of breakdown.
Family foster care and adoption , Mental health of children and young people in care
