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High stress experienced in the foster and kin carer role: Understanding the complexities of the carer and child in context

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  • Harding, Leith
  • Murray, Kate
  • Shakespeare-Finch, Jane
  • Frey, Ron

Abstract

With the rising numbers of children in need of out-of-home care, child protection services look to foster and kin carers to play a leading role in the lives of children unable to live with their birth families. The current study examined placement, carer, and child characteristics related to perceived foster parent stress in a sample of 158 foster and kin carers in Queensland, Australia. Carers completed a self-report online survey that assessed parenting stress, and carer perceptions of the child in their care and the child protection system. Overall, foster carers reported high stress, with 20% in the clinical range on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4-SF). This stress was significantly higher for those providing care for children with carer-reported high emotional and behavioural problems. Both foster carer stress and the child's emotional and behavioural challenges were significantly related to placement factors, such as, the length of time the child had been in their current placement, and the child protection court order under which the child had been placed. The findings of the study highlight the challenges to caregivers in out-of-home care and the need for individualised services, resources and supports for caregivers under stress.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:95:y:2018:i:c:p:316-326
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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).
    2. Elisa Mancinelli & Gaia Dell’Arciprete & Silvia Salcuni, 2021. "A Systematic Review on Foster Parents’ Psychological Adjustment and Parenting Style—An Evaluation of Foster Parents and Foster Children Variables," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Scrivens, Catherine & Logan, Jayden & Reid, Natasha, 2023. "Navigating the barriers to supporting neurodevelopmental disorders in children in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    4. Harding, Leith & Murray, Kate & Shakespeare-Finch, Jane & Frey, Ron, 2020. "The wellbeing of foster and kin carers: A comparative study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Vish, Nora L. & Budig, Kimberly & Stolfi, Adrienne & Elliston, Rebecca & Thackeray, Jonathan D., 2024. "Predictors of mental health emergency department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations in children in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Findley, Erin & Praetorius, Regina T., 2023. "Points of foster parent stress in the system: A qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    7. McLaren, Helen & Patmisari, Emi & Jones, Michelle, 2024. "Professional quality of life of Australian Mockingbird FamilyTM foster carers: Compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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