IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v31y2009i7p752-760.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors associated with foster carer well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care

Author

Listed:
  • Whenan, Rachel
  • Oxlad, Melissa
  • Lushington, Kurt

Abstract

Foster carers have typically been found to play a key role in meeting the needs of foster children, yet little research has investigated their well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care. The current study investigated the relationships of child behavioural and emotional problems, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship, to foster carer well-being, satisfaction with fostering and intention to continue providing out-of-home care. Foster carers completed self-report measures of the above factors, as well as, foster carer and child demographics and placement factors. Univariately, foster carer well-being was predicted by foster care training, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship. Similarly, parenting self-efficacy and the foster carer-child relationship were also significantly related to foster carer satisfaction. Intention to continue providing out-of-home care was predicted by parenting self-efficacy. No significant associations were identified when multi-variate analyses were conducted, however. Clinical implications of the results are discussed, including the importance of continuing to refine and evaluate foster care training and interventions aimed to improve the self-efficacy of foster carers. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Whenan, Rachel & Oxlad, Melissa & Lushington, Kurt, 2009. "Factors associated with foster carer well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 752-760, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:31:y:2009:i:7:p:752-760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190-7409(09)00039-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oosterman, Mirjam & Schuengel, Carlo & Wim Slot, N. & Bullens, Ruud A.R. & Doreleijers, Theo A.H., 2007. "Disruptions in foster care: A review and meta-analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 53-76, January.
    2. Coakley, Tanya M. & Cuddeback, Gary & Buehler, Cheryl & Cox, Mary Ellen, 2007. "Kinship foster parents' perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 92-109, January.
    3. Brown, Jason D. & Bednar, Lisa M., 2006. "Foster parent perceptions of placement breakdown," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 1497-1511, December.
    4. Fees, Bronwyn S. & Stockdale, Dahlia F. & Crase, Sedahlia Jasper & Riggins-caspers, Kristin & Yates, Amy Moeller & Lekies, Kristi S. & Gillis-Arnold, Renee, 1998. "Satisfaction with foster parenting: Assessment one year after training," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 347-363, May.
    5. Shin, Sunny Hyucksun, 2005. "Need for and actual use of mental health service by adolescents in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(10), pages 1071-1083, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tregeagle, Susan & Cox, Elizabeth & Forbes, Catherine & Humphreys, Cathy & O'Neill, Cas, 2011. "Worker time and the cost of stability," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1149-1158, July.
    2. Storer, Heather L. & Barkan, Susan E. & Stenhouse, Linnea L. & Eichenlaub, Caroline & Mallillin, Anastasia & Haggerty, Kevin P., 2014. "In search of connection: The foster youth and caregiver relationship," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 110-117.
    3. Van Holen, Frank & Van Loock, Julie & Belenger, Laurence & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2017. "Concept mapping the needs of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 159-167.
    4. Nash, Jordanna J. & Flynn, Robert J., 2016. "Foster and adoptive parent training: A process and outcome investigation of the preservice PRIDE program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 142-151.
    5. Waid, Jeffrey & Kothari, Brianne H. & Bank, Lew & McBeath, Bowen, 2016. "Foster care placement change: The role of family dynamics and household composition," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 44-50.
    6. Griffiths, Austin & Holderfield-Gaither, Emily & Funge, Simon P. & Warfel, Erin T., 2021. "Satisfaction, willingness, and well-being: Examining the perceptions of a statewide sample of public and private foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Harding, Leith & Murray, Kate & Shakespeare-Finch, Jane & Frey, Ron, 2018. "High stress experienced in the foster and kin carer role: Understanding the complexities of the carer and child in context," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 316-326.
    8. Barkan, Susan E. & Salazar, Amy M. & Estep, Kara & Mattos, Leah M. & Eichenlaub, Caroline & Haggerty, Kevin P., 2014. "Adapting an evidence-based parenting program for child welfare involved teens and their caregivers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 53-61.
    9. Longhofer, Jeffrey & Floersch, Jerry & Okpych, Nate, 2011. "Foster youth and psychotropic treatment: Where next?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 395-404, February.
    10. Cooley, Morgan E. & Petren, Raymond E., 2011. "Foster parent perceptions of competency: Implications for foster parent training," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1968-1974, October.
    11. Stenason, Lauren & Romano, Elisa, 2023. "Number of placement changes among young people in care: Youth and caregiver associations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    12. Dowdy-Hazlett, Taylor & Clark, Shelby L., 2024. "Latent profile analysis of risk and protective factors among foster parents: A cross-sectional study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    13. Hyde, Justeen & Kammerer, Nina, 2009. "Adolescents' perspectives on placement moves and congregate settings: Complex and cumulative instabilities in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 265-273, February.
    14. Van Holen, Frank & Trogh, Lenny & West, Delphine & Meys, Nina & Vanderfaeillie, Johan, 2019. "Concept mapping the needs of Flemish nonkinship foster parents who care for unaccompanied refugee minors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 84-92.
    15. Christiansen, Øivin & Havik, Toril & Anderssen, Norman, 2010. "Arranging stability for children in long-term out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 913-921, July.
    16. Vanschoonlandt, Femke & Vanderfaeillie, Johan & Van Holen, Frank & De Maeyer, Skrällan & Robberechts, Marijke, 2013. "Externalizing problems in young foster children: Prevalence rates, predictors and service use," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 716-724.
    17. Waid, Jeffrey & Kothari, Brianne H. & McBeath, Bowen M. & Bank, Lew, 2017. "Foster home integration as a temporal indicator of relational well-being," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 137-145.
    18. Strickler, Amy & Mihalo, Jennifer R. & Celedonia, Karen L., 2018. "Reducing barriers to using data: A learning collaborative approach to leverage collective knowledge about treatment parent satisfaction and retention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 300-307.
    19. Khoo, Evelyn & Skoog, Viktoria & Dalin, Rolf, 2012. "In and out of care. A profile and analysis of children in the out-of-home care system in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 900-907.
    20. Kang, Hyunah & Woo, Seokjin & Chun, JongSerl & Nho, Choog Rai & Chung, Ick-Joong, 2017. "Developmental outcomes among Korean adolescents in out-of-home care: A longitudinal study comparing kinship foster care and institutional care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 118-124.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:31:y:2009:i:7:p:752-760. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.