Measuring parenting among foster families: The development of the Foster Parent Attitudes Questionnaire (FPAQ)

Abstract

Foster parents are an increasingly vulnerable population, with documented parenting difficulties. The care they provide to maltreated children plays a critical role in these children's well-being. Parenting attitudes figure largely in the quality of care any parent may provide, and may be particularly salient for foster children. The current study was designed to create and test a measure of foster parent attitudes. Following focus groups and expert item review, a measure of foster parenting attitudes was administered to 90 foster mothers in two urban settings. The measure had very good test–retest reliability and good internal reliability. Validity was established through the measure's significant positive relation to a general measure of parenting attitudes. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 7 factors, the most robust of which was attachment/commitment to the foster child. These findings are discussed in the context of current practice and research.