What do we know about the impact of stress on foster carers and contributing factors?

Abstract

Research has highlighted the many challenges that foster carers face in caring for children who have experienced adversity and has charted a growing mismatch between the numbers of children needing placements and the availability of carers. This review synthesises and evaluates the current empirical evidence on the causes and consequences of stress experienced by foster carers and the factors that lessen or increase it. PsychINFO, ASSIA, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for relevant studies, 15 of which met the specific inclusion criteria. The factors identified included both system variables, such as working in a wider service framework, and individual ones, such as children’s behaviour. One consequence of this stress was reduced foster carer retention. Scrutiny of the papers also revealed methodological issues related to sampling, research design and cultural variability. Topics for future research were identified, especially an analysis of the perspectives of people involved in the system around foster carers, such as social workers and the carers’ birth children. Clinical implications were also highlighted, most notably the promotion and provision of effective training and support and the development of integrated ways of working with services and foster carers’ families.

Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Parental Stress: A Study of Foster Parents

“…Additionally, foster parents may not always have the tools to manage this heightened stress; one recent study found that foster parents report only moderate engagement in self-care-and that self-care practices vary by gender, relationship status, health status, and financial status (Miller et al, 2019). Further, researchers have identified that foster parents also experience stress related to their interactions or experiences within the larger foster care system more broadly (Adams et al, 2018).…”

“…However, multiple recent reports have found that foster parents report generally high levels of stress, outside of a crisis or emergency situation (e.g., Havik et al, 2016;Megahead & Deater-Deckard, 2017), and some report higher levels of parental stress than biological parents in a natal family context (Bergsund et al, 2019). One thing does seem clear: foster care presents unique parenting circumstances, and whether the associated stress seems manageable or not, it is often present and must be coped with in some way (Adams et al, 2018;Cooley et al, 2017).…”

“…However, there is some empirical evidence in Asian populations that COVID-19 has caused mental distress in both frontline (healthcare) workers and in the general population, but symptoms fall primarily below clinical, diagnostic levels for illness among 16-28% of those screened (Rajkumar, 2020). Perhaps because of the type and level of stress that foster parents routinely experience (Adams et al, 2018), it makes sense that parenting-related stress may be higher during the unique context of a pandemic-and particularly so for those who report less-than-excellent mental health to begin with. Prior foster care research supports that foster parents are susceptible to child-related stressors such as the negative impacts of parenting youth with behavioral problems (e.g., Goemans et al, 2015).…”

Parental monitoring by foster parents, youth behaviours and the youth–foster parent relationship

“…Consequently, youth in foster care experience clinical levels of mental health problems at 2.5-3.5, the rate of youth in the general population (Baker et al, 2007;Clausen et al, 1998;Tarren-Sweeny, 2008). A growing body of research identifies managing child behavioural problems as one of the most important and challenging tasks of foster parenting (Adams et al, 2018;Hebert & Kulkin, 2018), and behavioural problems are associated with placement breakdown (Oosterman et al, 2007). Qualitative research supports that child behaviour is associated with foster parents' decision to quit fostering (Rhodes et al, 2001).…”

Processing the Removal and Managing the Moves or Removals of Foster Children: A Qualitative Exploration of Foster Parents’ Experiences

“…Nonrelative foster parents provide approximately 45% of the placements for foster children (USDHHS, 2014); thus, they should be a central focus of research. Foster parents are crucial to the function of the child welfare system; however, fostering is stressful (Adams, Hassett, & Lumsden, 2018). Adams et al (2018) identified that stressors tend to be both individual-level, such as managing child behavioral issues, as well as stressors that come from involvement with the child welfare system.…”