The objective of this qualitative research is to better understand the processes that contribute to resilience among adolescents in foster care. Twelve boys and girls (X=15.9 years), identified as resilient, participated in this study. The mean duration of the teenagers’ placement is 7.3 years. The results point to three types of turning points: action, relation and reflection. Four processes, directly or indirectly linked to the turning point, have also been identified: increase in perceived self‐efficacy, distancing oneself from the risks, new opportunities, and the multiplication of benefits.

No abstract

This research focuses on how siblings are organized following two types of family transitions: foster care placements and parental divorce. Its goal was to identify the family characteristics associated with intact and split sibling groups. The sample was composed of 294 families. Results indicate that siblings are more likely to be separated when children are older and when they have larger age gap with their siblings; arrangements in which siblings are separated produce greater instability for them.

Children placed in foster care families usually continue to see their birth parents in supervised and home visits. These children deal with the fact that they belonged to two families in a context where the relationship between the two families is sometimes complex and tense. Based on 45 semi-structured interviews conducted with foster care families and kinship foster care families, the present study examines the relationship between foster care parents and birth parents in a placement context, and focuses on the factors affecting the nature and quality of this relationship. The results showed that the quality of the relationship dynamics varies according to the following: how well and how often the parent-child visits took place, the birth parents' characteristics, and the foster carers' attitudes. The results also showed that placements in kinship foster care families were more likely to result in conflict and tension between the two parties than placements in regular foster care families. KEYWORDSchild welfare, contact (with birth relatives), family placement, foster care (family), kinship care, parenting/parenthood

In a sample of 143 parent-child dyads from two-parent and separated families, this investigation documented the links between parental psychological violence and separation or divorce, severity of parental conflict, triangulation of the child in this conflict, and polarized parent-child alliances. The unique and combined contributions of all these variables to children's behavior problems were also assessed. Participants were parents, mostly mothers, and their 10-12-year-old child. They were recruited through schools, community organizations, and newspapers. Questionnaires were administered at home. Findings suggest that separated families undergo more relational disturbances than two-parent families (more severe conflicts, more triangulation, stronger parent-child alliances), but the amount of parental psychological violence was similar in both groups. Psychological violence was associated with the severity of parental conflict, especially in two-parent families. Triangulation of the child in parental conflict was another correlate of psychological violence. Once all variables were controlled for, psychological violence remained the only significant correlate of children's externalized behavior problems. These findings raise the importance of preventing psychological violence toward children, especially in families plagued with severe parental conflicts.