Caregiver commitment to foster children: the role of child characteristics

Abstract

We examined the associations between caregiver commitment to foster children and child behavior and attachment (N = 102). Commitment was assessed using a semi-structured interview known as the 'This is My Baby' Interview (Bates & Dozier, 1998). We also examined the stability of the construct of commitment over an 11 month period. Overall, caregiver commitment was associated with child behavior, assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991, 1992). Both caregiver commitment and child behavior were highly stable over time. For a sub-sample of dyads for which we had data at two time points (N = 76), caregiver commitment was significantly associated with child behavior at the first assessment but not at the second assessment. Child behavior at time 1 did not predict caregiver commitment at time 2, when controlling for caregiver commitment at time 1. Similarly, caregiver commitment at time 1 did not predict child behavior at time 2, when controlling for child behavior at time 1. Caregiver commitment was not associated with child attachment assessed using the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & ; Wall, 1978).