Abstract
The goals of the current study were to examine (i) differences in parenting between foster and biological parents, (ii) the longitudinal associations with children's internalising and externalising problems and iii) the potential moderation of these by children's callous-unemotional traits (CU traits). Data from 86 foster children (M = 4.44years, male = 48%) and 148 biological children (M = 3.69years, male = 49%) with their families were analysed in a longitudinal study with three measurement times. Parenting behaviour did not significantly differ between the foster and biological family groups. Significant longitudinal cross-lagged effects were found for parental warmth and support and children's externalising problems. CU traits moderated the relationship between warmth and support and externalising problems of children. Findings suggest that parenting behaviours and child psychopathology do influence each other over time reciprocally and to a similar extent in both groups. However, there was also evidence for greater temporal stability of psychopathological symptoms and reduced responsivity to parental warmth in children with higher CU traits.
Highlights
Out-of-home care is considered an important intervention to ensure the security and adaptive development of infants and children when this is no longer possible in their biological family
The results of this analysis may give hints regarding the potential relationships between parenting behaviours and child development, and lead to tailored interventions for foster families to support the adaptive development of CFC
Internalising and externalising child behaviours and CU traits were significantly higher for CFC than for children in biological families (CBF), except for internalising problems at T2 (T = − 1.77, p = 0.078)
Summary
Out-of-home care is considered an important intervention to ensure the security and adaptive development of infants and children when this is no longer possible in their biological family. The study at hand aims to examine whether the longitudinal associations between child behaviour problems and parenting differ between foster and biological families, and how parenting behaviour dimensions interact with children’s internalising and externalising problem behaviour in a longitudinal study. The results of this analysis may give hints regarding the potential relationships between parenting behaviours and child development, and lead to tailored interventions for foster families to support the adaptive development of CFC
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