Department of Pediatrics, Jichi Me dical University, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi, Japan.
Jichi Medical University Graduate School, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi, Japan.
Pediatr Int. 2024 Jan-Dec;66(1):e15761. doi: 10.1111/ped.15761.
Behavioral problems of foster children are an important issue for the maintenance of the foster care system, but they have not been adequately studied in Japan. We used the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) to investigate behavioral problems among foster children and to examine associated factors.
Twenty-nine foster children and their foster parents and 479 non-foster children and parents were recruited for the foster and control groups, respectively. Both groups underwent statistical comparative analyses using data from their ECBI assessments. The ECBI has two scales: the Intensity Scale quantifies the severity of child behavioral problems, and the Problem Scale captures the caregiver's perceived difficulties handling each behavior. We conducted a retrospective investigation of the background of the foster parent-child pairs to explore potential causal relationships with behavioral problems.
The mean intensity score for the foster group was significantly higher than that for the control group (p = 0.001). The mean problem scores for the foster group and the control group were not significantly different (p = 0.79). In the foster group, the retrospective investigation revealed two children with neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders, 17 with histories of abuse, and 10 with other issues.
Intensity scores showed severe behavioral problems among foster children, perhaps caused by neurological disorders, abuse, parental mental health, or economic hardship. Problem scores showed no significant differences between groups. It can therefore be posited that foster parents might exhibit a more lenient parenting style when dealing with children who have a history of abuse by their biological parents.
寄养儿童的行为问题是维持寄养系统的一个重要问题，但在日本尚未得到充分研究。我们使用 Eyberg 儿童行为量表（ECBI）调查了寄养儿童的行为问题，并探讨了相关因素。
我们分别招募了 29 名寄养儿童及其寄养父母和 479 名非寄养儿童及其父母作为寄养组和对照组。两组均使用 ECBI 评估数据进行了统计比较分析。ECBI 有两个量表：强度量表量化了儿童行为问题的严重程度，问题量表捕捉了照顾者对处理每种行为的感知困难。我们对寄养亲子对的背景进行了回顾性调查，以探索与行为问题的潜在因果关系。
寄养组的平均强度得分明显高于对照组（p=0.001）。寄养组和对照组的平均问题得分没有显著差异（p=0.79）。在寄养组中，回顾性调查显示有 2 名儿童患有神经或神经发育障碍，17 名儿童有虐待史，10 名儿童有其他问题。
强度得分显示寄养儿童存在严重的行为问题，可能是由神经障碍、虐待、父母的心理健康或经济困难引起的。问题得分在两组之间没有显著差异。因此，可以假设当处理有亲生父母虐待史的儿童时，寄养父母可能会表现出更宽容的育儿方式。
