Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, zUniversity College London, London, UK.
Centre for Health Services and Clinical Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK.
Trials. 2021 Nov 25;22(1):841. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05739-y.
The needs of children in care are a government priority, yet the evidence base for effective interventions to support the emotional wellbeing of children in care is lacking. Research suggests that supporting the carer-child relationship, by promoting the carer's reflective parenting, may be an effective approach to improving the wellbeing of these children.
The study comprises a definitive, superiority, two-armed, parallel, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial, with embedded process evaluation and economic evaluation, and an internal pilot, to evaluate the effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness, of the Reflective Fostering Programme. Randomisation is at the individual level using a 1:1 allocation ratio. The study is being conducted in local authority sites across England, and is targeted at foster carers (including kinship carers) looking after children aged 4 to 13. Consenting participants are randomly allocated to the Reflective Fostering Programme (intervention arm) in addition to usual support or usual support alone (control arm). The primary outcome is behavioural and emotional wellbeing of the child 12 months post-baseline, and secondary outcomes include the following: foster carer's level of stress, quality of life, reflective capacity, compassion fatigue and burnout, placement stability, the quality of the child-carer relationship, child's capacity for emotional regulation, and achievement of personalised goals set by the carer.
A feasibility study has indicated effectiveness of the Programme in improving the child-carer relationship and emotional and behavioural wellbeing of children in care. This study will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of implementing the Reflective Fostering Programme as an additional aid to the support already available to local authority foster carers.
ISRCTN 70832140 .
儿童的需求是政府的首要任务，但缺乏支持照顾儿童情感福祉的有效干预措施的证据基础。研究表明，通过促进照顾者的反思性育儿，可以支持照顾者与儿童的关系，这可能是改善这些儿童福祉的有效方法。
该研究包括一项明确的、优势的、双臂的、平行的、实用的、随机对照试验，具有嵌入式过程评估和经济评估以及内部试点，以评估反思式寄养计划的有效性和成本效益。随机化是在个体水平上进行的，采用 1:1 的分配比例。该研究在英格兰的地方当局进行，针对的是照顾 4 至 13 岁儿童的寄养父母（包括亲属照顾者）。同意参与的人被随机分配到反思式寄养计划（干预组），除了通常的支持或单独的通常支持（对照组）。主要结果是儿童在基线后 12 个月的行为和情感健康，次要结果包括以下内容：寄养父母的压力水平、生活质量、反思能力、同情疲劳和倦怠、安置稳定性、儿童与照顾者的关系质量、儿童的情绪调节能力以及照顾者设定的个性化目标的实现。
一项可行性研究表明，该计划在改善照顾者与儿童的关系以及照顾儿童的情感和行为福祉方面是有效的。这项研究将测试实施反思式寄养计划的有效性和成本效益，作为对地方当局寄养父母已经获得的支持的额外辅助。
ISRCTN 70832140。
