Foster Families: A Systematic Review of Intention and Retention Factors

Background: Compared to residential care, family foster care is the preferable type of alternative care for neglected or abused children as it provides a familiar context that supports children’s developmental needs. New foster families are needed to care for these children. Objective: This systematic review aims to provide a critical analysis of the literature, identifying factors that explain the intention to become and to continue as a foster family. This review was performed following the PRISMA checklist and guidelines, through a search conducted in the following databases (no restrictions were made): PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Academic Search Complete, ERIC, Scopus, and Web of Science. Study eligibility: The review includes empirical quantitative and/or qualitative studies in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, with community and/or foster parents’ samples and explores the factors for becoming and/or retention of foster parents. Results: Forty-nine studies were included. The results revealed that the intention to become a foster parent is largely influenced by motivational factors, personal and family characteristics, individual values and beliefs, social context influences, and perceived familiarity with the child protection system. The retention of foster families is closely related to factors within the child protection system, personal or family characteristics, foster child characteristics, and placement challenges. The relationship with agencies and professional support stands out as the most important factors. Limitations and Implications: This review did not include studies focused on children with specific needs and characteristics, and future research should consider the particular challenges of fostering this group. Practice implications of these findings for the recruitment, selection, and retention of foster families will be discussed.

     

Causal and Moral Responsibility of Victims of Rape and Robbery

Four experimental studies of attribution in a criminal situation used a 2⁴ ANOVA design with three common independent variables, namely, type of crime, time of crime, and victim's prior experience of crime, all three manipulated through a passage describing an incident of crime involving a male criminal and a female victim, and one common dependent measure which was length of imprisonment recommended for the criminal. The fourth independent variable was subject's sex in the first two experiments and instructionally manipulated female subject's involvement (objective or identifying female subject) in the last two experiments. The second dependent measure was fault attributed to the victim in the first and third experiments and perceived likelihood of crime in the second and fourth experiments. The subjects were undergraduate students of the University of Bombay, 15 per cell in each experiment. Female subjects were more punitive toward the criminal than male subjects, especially in the case of rape, and the rapist received a longer sentence than the robber, especially from female subjects. Identifying female subjects tended to recommend a longer sentence than objective female subjects. Female subjects attributed less fault to the victim and perceived greater likelihood of crime than male subjects and identifying female subjects attributed somewhat less fault to the victim than did objective female subjects. The robbery victim was attributed more fault than the rape victim. Whereas previous experience of similar victimization increased attributed victim's fault, a late hour enhanced both attributed victim's fault and perceived likelihood of crime. These findings are discussed with respect to a theoretical distinction between causal and moral responsibility as represented by the likellhood and fault measures, respectively.     

The moderating effect of need type on the prediction of overall job satisfaction

Recent investigations concerned with the analysis of work motivation and job satisfaction constructs have combined the logic of subgrouping with an emphasis on the importance of individual differences. The present study is based on a need-fulfillment model, which places a major emphasis on individual differences in needs. A hierarchical clustering method was used to subgroup a sample of 570 managers on their need profiles. Need type was tested as a moderator of the relationship between specific dimensions of job satisfaction and overall job satisfaction. The findings showed that need type moderated the relative contributions of specific dimensions of satisfaction in the prediction of overall job satisfaction, and in addition the prediction level was found to be greater for the need types than for the total sample.     

Recruitment Strategies for a Home-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients

Recruiting cancer patients for randomized trials investigating psychosocial interventions presents several unique challenges. This paper describes the challenges and yields for different recruitment methods used in Moving Forward, a randomized trial of a home-based moderate-intensity physical activity program for early-stage breast cancer survivors. Recruitment methods included letters sent to patients by their oncologists, direct referrals from oncologists, in-person recruitment in oncology clinics, referrals from nurses and medical assistants, passive recruitment, other mailings, and community outreach strategies. Of the 424 screenings completed, 86 (20.3%) participants were randomized. Physician letters yielded the greatest number of initial screenings (147; 34.7%) and participants randomized (28; 32.5%). In-person recruitment also proved to be a productive recruitment strategy; 14 (16.3%) of the participants were recruited via this strategy. Community outreach efforts did not provide as great a yield and were labor intensive. We discuss suggestions for recruitment of cancer patients in future trials.     

Validation and predictive utility of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire for Eating Disorders (SATAQ-ED): internalization of sociocultural ideals predicts weight gain

A widely used measure of societal influences on body image and eating disturbances—the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ) was validated in women with eating disorders. The original SATAQ and measures of convergence and divergence were administered to 165 eating disordered inpatients. Factor analyses were conducted to determine the underlying structure of the SATAQ. Convergent validity, diagnostic category norms and the predictive utility of the revised SATAQ were examined. Factor analyses indicated three factors: Internalization, Awareness, and Success. Internalization significantly predicted treatment success after controlling for admission BMI and drive for thinness. The revised SATAQ-ED measures multiple aspects of societal influence, predicts short-term outcome, and can be a useful tool for evaluating potential outcome and treatment efficacy.     

Keeping the Spirit of Community Partnerships Alive in the Scale Up of HIV/AIDS Prevention: Critical Reflections on the Roll Out of DEBI (Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions)

DEBI, or the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions is the largest centralized effort to diffuse evidence-based prevention science to fight HIV/AIDS in the United States. DEBI seeks to ensure that the most effective science-based prevention interventions are widely implemented across the country in community-based organizations. Thus, this is a particularly timely juncture in which to critically reflect on the extent to which known principles of community collaboration have guided key processes associated with the DEBI rollout. We review the available evidence on how the dissemination of packaged interventions is necessary but not sufficient for ensuring the success of technology transfer. We consider additional principles that are vital for successful technology transfer, which were not central considerations in the rollout of the DEBI initiative. These issues are: (1) community perceptions of a top-down mode of dissemination; (2) the extent to which local innovations are being embraced, bolstered, or eliminated; and (3) contextual and methodological considerations that shape community preparedness. Consideration of these additional factors is necessary in order to effectively document, manage, and advance the science of dissemination and technology transfer in centralized prevention efforts within and outside of HIV/AIDS.     

The impact of children’s lexical and morphosyntactic knowledge on narrative competence development: A prospective cohort study

The authors investigate the contribution of children's early comprehension of relational terms and morphosyntactic knowledge to the development of narrative competence in kindergarten and Grade 1. Narrative competence was assessed through the cohesion, coherence, and structure of children’s productions. The participants in this study were 714 Italian children. The authors measured their oral narrative competence through a storytelling task at the beginning and end of the kindergarten year. A total of 115 children were randomly selected and followed through Grade 1, and their narrative competence was measured again. According to the path analysis model, early morphosyntactic knowledge contributes to explain narrative competence in Grade 1. Early comprehension of relational terms contributes to narrative competence at the end of the school year. These findings confirm the importance of exploring the influence of early language skills on narrative competence development and suggests early intervention at the level of language antecedents of narrative competence.     

A Psychometric Examination of the Pathological Obsessive Compulsive Personality Scale (POPS): Initial Study in an Undergraduate Sample

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) has been subject to numerous definition and classification changes, which has contributed to difficulties in reliable measurement of the disorder. Consequently, OCPD measures have yielded poor validity and inconsistent prevalence estimates. Reliable and valid measures of OCPD are needed. The aim of the current study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Pathological Obsessive Compulsive Personality Scale (POPS). Participants (N = 571 undergraduates) completed a series of self-report measures online, including the POPS. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit of unidimensional, five factor, and bifactor models of the POPS. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed in relation to other personality dimensions. A bifactor model provided the best fit to the data, indicating that the total POPS scale and four subscales can be scored to obtain reliable indicators of OCPD. The POPS was most strongly associated with a disorder-specific measure of OCPD, however there were also positive associations with theoretically disparate constructs, thus further research is needed to clarify validity of the scale.