Intra- and interpersonal influences on child adjustment and resilience in welfare care: A qualitative study with former caregivers in Switzerland

Sarah J. Mäder, Myriam V. Thoma, Aileen N. Salas Castillo, Melanie Dorigo and Shauna L. Rohner

Children and Youth Services Review, 2024, vol. 161, issue C

Abstract: Despite the growing research on child maltreatment within welfare care, few studies have included the caregivers who were involved in care provision and can provide insights on an intra- and interpersonal level. Therefore, this study aimed to examine intra- and interpersonal factors that promoted or hindered the adaptive adjustment and resilience of children in welfare care, from the previously neglected perspective of former caregivers. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with N = 12 Swiss former caregivers. Participants were 10 females and 2 males, aged between 58–91 years (mean age = 74.5 years). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using framework analysis. Two themes emerged from the data on both the intrapersonal level (i.e., Core Characteristics, Coping), and interpersonal level (i.e., Caregiving Attitudes and Actions, Relationships and Attachment). Resilience hindering factors included emotion regulation difficulties, issues within the child-caregiver relationship (e.g., differential treatment, abuse and punitive measures, lack of affection and attachment), and placement disruptions. Resilience promoting factors included coping via creativity and imagination, and social and emotional support beyond the caregiver (e.g., siblings, animals). Results highlight key areas for action at the intra- and interpersonal levels, including psychotherapeutic interventions for children in care (e.g., addressing insecure attachment), and psychoeducation and mentoring programs to enhance caregiver reflective practices and improve care provision. Future research and practice should incorporate the caregiver perspective to develop the training and support for care staff and ensure the safeguarding of (current and future) children in welfare care.

Keywords: Welfare care; Child maltreatment; Caregiver perspective; Intrapersonal and interpersonal factors; Qualitative research methods; Framework analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924002251
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:161:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924002251

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107653

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().