| Abstract: | Previous research has found that foster mother state of mind with respect to attachment and infant age at placement into foster care influence the developing foster mother–foster child relationship (Dozier, Albus, Stovall, & Bates, 2000; Stovall & Dozier, 2000). This study extends prior research by assessing factors related to foster mothers' representations of their foster infants. Participants were 48 foster mother–foster infant dyads in two mid‐Atlantic cities. We expected that foster mothers' states of mind and infant age at placement would be associated with foster mothers' acceptance of infants, commitment to infants, and belief in their influence on infants' development. Consistent with hypotheses, foster mothers' states of mind interacted with infant age at placement in predicting foster mothers' acceptance of their babies, and the extent to which foster mothers believed they could influence their infants' development. Specifically, autonomous foster mothers of babies placed before 12 months of age were more accepting and more likely to believe they could influence their infants' development compared to autonomous foster mothers of babies placed after 12 months of age, a pattern not seen for nonautonomous foster mothers. These results converge with other findings suggesting that timing of placement in foster care, and foster mothers' states of mind, are important to the developing foster mother–child relationship. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. |
