‘Caring for the carers’: Compassion fatigue and associated factors in foster and kinship carers

Foster and kinship carers often care for traumatised children, and thus may be at risk of compassion fatigue (comprising burnout and secondary traumatic stress). This study aims to add to the emerging literature around whether compassion fatigue is present in foster and kinship carers and explore potential factors that may be associated with it. An online cross-sectional survey of 180 foster and kinship carers from the United Kingdom included measures of compassion fatigue, attachment, reflective functioning, self-efficacy, and social support. Results suggest higher levels of compassion fatigue amongst foster and kinship carers compared to helping professionals, and equivalent levels of compassion satisfaction, confirming previous findings. Regression analysis showed higher compassion fatigue was associated with lower levels of parenting satisfaction, higher attachment avoidance and higher discrepancies between perceived and enacted emotional support. Post hoc analysis showed a significant difference between source of social support for alternative caregivers with formal supports less likely to meet expectations. Descriptive statistics also highlighted low levels of reflective functioning training and low levels of household income of kinship carers within the sample. The findings are discussed in light of the timing of data collection and sampling strategy during COVID-19 restrictions. Associations between social support and attachment avoidance in relation to accessing entitled supports has implications for clinical and social services.