School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland.
School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Ireland.
Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Apr;102:104390. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104390. Epub 2020 Feb 7.
The need to improve the quality of foster care training has been highlighted and evidenced-based programs that aim to support foster carers in the care of children who have experienced trauma are warranted.
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Fostering Connections program, a newly developed trauma-informed care program within the national child welfare agency in Ireland.
The study included 79 foster carers. The Fostering Connections group-based experiential intervention was delivered over a period of 6-weeks in a community-based setting to intervention group participants.
A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the results of the intervention group (n = 49), to a control group (n = 30,) who received usual care. Standardized assessment measures were used at baseline, 6-weeks on completion, 16 weeks and 15 months post-intervention. Foster carers' knowledge of trauma-informed fostering, tolerance of misbehavior and fostering efficacy, and children's emotional and behavioral difficulties were assessed.
Significant improvements were found in foster carers' knowledge of trauma-informed fostering (p < 0.001), tolerance of child misbehavior (p = 0.007) and fostering efficacy (p < 0.001), with effect sizes ranging from medium to large and sustained over fifteen months (ES = 0.07-0.14). Significant improvement was also found in children's emotional and behavioral difficulties at fifteen months (p = 0.019), with a small effect size (ES = 0.05).
Preliminary evidence suggests that Fostering Connections is potentially an effective intervention in increasing foster carer's capacity to provide children with trauma-informed care.
提高寄养培训质量的需求已得到强调，有必要开发基于证据的计划，以支持寄养照顾者照顾经历过创伤的儿童。
本研究旨在评估“连接寄养”计划的有效性，该计划是爱尔兰国家儿童福利机构新开发的一项创伤知情护理计划。
该研究包括 79 名寄养照顾者。“连接寄养”小组体验式干预在社区环境中进行，为期 6 周，仅对干预组参与者实施。
采用准实验设计，比较干预组（n=49）和对照组（n=30）的结果，对照组接受常规护理。在基线、完成后的 6 周、16 周和 15 个月时使用标准化评估措施。评估寄养照顾者对创伤知情寄养的知识、对儿童不良行为的容忍度、寄养效能以及儿童的情绪和行为困难程度。
寄养照顾者对创伤知情寄养的知识（p<0.001）、对儿童不良行为的容忍度（p=0.007）和寄养效能（p<0.001）显著提高，效应大小从中等到较大，且持续 15 个月（ES=0.07-0.14）。15 个月时，儿童的情绪和行为困难也显著改善（p=0.019），效应大小较小（ES=0.05）。
初步证据表明，“连接寄养”计划有可能成为提高寄养照顾者提供创伤知情护理能力的有效干预措施。
