Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Obwohl die Partnerschaftszufriedenheit zum Erfolg bzw. Misserfolg einer Behandlung erheblich beitragen kann, gibt es im deutschsprachigen Raum kein ökonomisches, reliables und valides Instrument. Fragestellung: Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es daher eine Kurzform des Partnerschaftsfragebogen (PFB-K) zu entwickeln. Methode: Der PFB-K wurde anhand einer aktuellen Befragung aus dem Jahr 2011 (N = 1.390) evaluiert und normiert. Ergebnisse: Für den Gesamtwert des PFB-K wurden gute interne Konsistenzen (Gesamt: α = .84; Frauen: α = .87; Männer: α = .81) ermittelt. Eine Normierung erfolgte nach Geschlecht und Alter (19–39, 40–59 und 60–89 Jahre) getrennt. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Kurzform kann in der Praxis und Forschung eingesetzt werden. Eine Kreuzvalidierung anhand einer klinischen Stichprobe steht aus.

BackgroundThis study focuses on children living in foster families with a history of maltreatment or neglect. These children often show adverse mental health outcomes reflected in increased externalizing and internalizing problems. It is expected that these adverse outcomes are associated with increased parental stress levels experienced by foster mothers as well as foster fathers.MethodsThe study sample included 79 children living in foster families and 140 children living in biological families as comparison group. The age of the children ranged from 2 to 7 years. Mental health problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, while parenting stress was measured with a parenting stress questionnaire including subscales on the amount of experienced stress and the amount of perceived support. The Child Behavior Checklist assessments were based mainly on maternal reports, while the parental stress assessments were based on maternal as well as paternal reports.ResultsAs expected the results showed increased externalizing and internalizing scores for the foster children accompanied by increased parental stress experiences in the foster family sample (however only in the maternal, but not in the paternal stress reports). The stress differences between the foster and biological family groups disappeared, when the children’s mental health problem scores were included as covariates. Moreover, especially the externalizing scores were strong predictors of parental stress in both, the groups of foster and biological parents. The amount of perceived social support was associated with reduced parental stress, but only in the group of biological fathers.ConclusionThe emergence of parental stress in biological as well as foster parents is closely related to child characteristics (mainly externalizing child problems). Possible implications for the reduction of parental stress are discussed as a consequence of the present results.

Abstract. This paper focuses on the longitudinal relationships between foster children’s mental health problems and parental stress across a 1-year interval with three measurements. A sample of 94 foster children and a comparison group of 157 biological children and their families participated in this study. The age of the children was between 2 and 7 years. At the initial assessment, the foster children had been in their foster families since 2–24 months. Based on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores, the results indicated increased internalizing and externalizing mental health problems in the foster children group. Both mental health scores remained rather stable across the longitudinal assessments in foster as well as in biological children. Internalizing as well as externalizing scores were substantially correlated with parental stress in both samples. Moreover, changes in mental health scores were associated with changes in parental stress. However, cross-lagged panel analyses showed no clear pattern of temporal relationships between children’s mental health scores and parental stress. Implications as well as strengths and limitations of the current study are addressed in the Discussion section.

Young children with a history of maltreatment or neglect in foster families often confront their caregivers with particularly challenging behaviors. This may lead to more parenting stress, an increased risk for the child in foster care to experience further maltreatment, and placement disruptions. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of a parent group training tailored to the special needs of foster families. We hypothesized significant short- and long-term improvements regarding foster parents’ parenting competencies, child mental health problems, and related outcomes. Eighty-one families with 87 children in foster care aged 2 to 7 years participated in the trial. For the intervention study, 44 randomly selected families (54%) were offered to participate in the parent group training. Intervention and control group families were reassessed three times over a period of 1 year. Contrary to our expectations, we found no advantages of the intervention group compared with the usual care control group on any outcome measure. Instead, we found some significant changes in both groups across time. Placement into foster care is associated with some favorable outcomes for children in foster care. Additional support for foster families beyond the services delivered in the youth welfare system to foster parents was not associated with more favorable outcomes. The present intervention is likely associated with a low risk of harm but also with a high likelihood of a lack of significant benefits for foster parents and their young children going beyond feeling satisfied about the delivered services. Participating foster families showed favorable baseline results on parenting measures which may have impeded intervention effects to unfold on these proximal variables.

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Abstract. This study investigated whether foster parents’ reports of their dyadic coping competencies differ from biological parents, whether there are differences with regard to the temporal associations between maternal and paternal dyadic coping in the two samples, and whether parental dyadic coping competencies predict future mental health problems in children. A total of 94 foster children and 157 children living in their biological families, both samples aged 2–7 years, as well as their (foster) parents were assessed three times over a 12-month period. The mothers’ and fathers’ dyadic coping competencies were assessed using the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI). Child psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and a standardized clinical interview (Kinder-DIPS), both mainly based on maternal report. Foster parents reported better dyadic coping competencies across the three assessments than did biological parents. There were no significant differences with regard to the temporal associations between mothers’ and fathers’ report over time between the two samples. Cross-lagged panel models yielded a high within person stability across the three assessments for both, mothers and fathers (actor effects), as well as some significant interpersonal effects primarily from paternal to maternal dyadic coping (partner effects). In contrast to the expectation, mothers’ and fathers’ dyadic coping did not predict child mental health problems at the third assessment. The results make an important contribution to the research on dyadic coping and on how child mental health problems affect parental dyadic coping competencies and vice versa.

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Es wird angenommen, dass der familiäre Kontext einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der kindlichen Emotionsregulation hat. Bei Pflegekindern wird durch die Fremdplatzierung entscheidend Einfluss auf den familiären Kontext genommen. Pflegekinder mit Misshandlungs- oder Vernachlässigungserfahrungen haben außerdem ein erhöhtes Risiko emotionale und Verhaltensauffälligkeiten zu entwickeln. In dieser Studie wird der Einfluss ausgewählter Variablen des familiären Kontextes auf die Emotionsregulation junger Kinder in zwei Stichproben untersucht. Fragestellung: Wie hängt das elterliche Erziehungsverhalten mit der kindlichen Emotionsregulation und beides wiederum mit kindlichen emotionalen und Verhaltensauffälligkeiten zusammen? Methode: Die primären Bezugspersonen von 99 Kindern, die in ihrer Herkunftsfamilie aufwachsen, und 51 Pflegekindern, die in den letzten 24 Monaten in einer Pflegefamilie untergebracht wurden, berichteten über das eigene Erziehungsverhalten, die kindliche Emotionsregulation sowie psychische Auffälligkeiten ihres (Pflege–)Kindes im Alter von 2;0 bis 7;11 Jahren. Ergebnisse: Während das Erziehungsverhalten bei den Herkunftsfamilien signifikant die Nutzung adaptiver (nicht aber maladaptiver) Emotionsregulationsstrategien vorhersagte, ergaben sich bei den Pflegefamilien diesbezüglich keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge. Der signifikante Einfluss maladaptiver Emotionsregulationsstrategien auf psychische Auffälligkeiten fand sich in beiden Stichproben. Schlussfolgerungen: Dass der Einfluss des familiären Kontexts auf die Emotionsregulation in den Herkunftsfamilien größer ist als in den Pflegefamilien, könnte auf mögliche konfundierende genetische Effekte oder darauf zurückzuführen sein, dass die Einflussmöglichkeiten der Herkunftsfamilien-Eltern bereits über längere Zeiträume bestanden. Insbesondere bezogen auf die Pflegefamilien bieten die Ergebnisse verschiedene Ansatzpunkte für Interventionen.

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