Association of Foster Care and its Duration with Clinical Symptoms and Impairment: Foster Care versus Non-Foster Care Comparisons with Spanish Children

Ignasi Navarro-Soria,Mateu Servera,G Leonard Burns

doi:10.1007/s10826-019-01596-1

Ignasi Navarro-Soria, Mateu Servera + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01596-1

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Abstract

ObjectiveThe objective was to determine if Spanish foster care children and Spanish non-foster children differ on sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), limited prosocial emotions (LPE), anxiety, depression, social and academic impairment measures and if the duration of foster care predicts a reduction in symptom and impairment differences between foster and non-foster care children.MethodFoster care parents of 49 children (8 to 13 years, 57% girls) and non-foster care mothers and fathers of 1776 children (8 to 13 years, 49% girls) completed the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI).ResultsFoster care children had significantly higher scores on all symptom and impairment measures than non-foster care mother and father groups (d values from 0.37 to 1.53). A longer duration in foster care (range 8 to 86 months) was also associated with significant lower scores on SCT, ADHD-IN, anxiety, depression, and academic impairment. In addition, while foster care children with a shorter duration in foster care (less than medium months) had significantly higher scores than the non-foster care groups on all measures (d values from 0.66 to 2.25), children with a longer duration in foster care did not differ from the non-foster care groups on anxiety, depression, ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI, LPE, social and academic impairment.ConclusionsAlthough foster care children had elevated psychopathology and impairment scores relative to non-foster care children, a longer stay in foster care was associated with the elimination of the difference on most symptom and impairment measures.

Highlights

Numerous studies have demonstrated that residential foster care can have negative consequences for children (e.g., Baptista et al 2014; Delgado et al 2012; Dregan and Gulliford 2012; Li et al 2017; López et al 2010; Rutter et al 2010; Smyke et al 2012; Troller-Renfree et al 2018; Tibu et al 2014)
The findings from these various studies resulted in recommendations to limit residential foster care and to promote
Already introduced in the 1987 law that created a new child protection system in Spain, was proposed as the great alternative for those children who had to be separated from their families

Summary

Methods

There were 281 children in foster care at the time of the study in the Province of Alicante, Spain. A total of 87 foster care families agreed to participate in the study with 49 of these families having a foster child in the age range of 8 to 13 years of age, the age range of the non-foster care comparison sample. The socioeconomic level of the foster care families was 25% medium-high income, 42% medium income, 24% medium-low income, and 9% low income with 81% two parent families and 19% single-parent families. Of the 49 families 11% reported 10 grades of education, 17% reported 12 grades of education, 26% reported vocational training (e.g., electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and administrators with three to five years of education beyond the high school diploma) and 30% reported a university degree

Results

Discussion

Conclusion