The "Fostering Changes" Parent Training Programme for Foster Carers: A Feasibility Study of the German Version

Background: Foster children exhibit higher rates of psychiatric and physical disorders than children living with their biological families. This places a high burden on the parenting skills of foster parents and potentially increases the risk of placement failure. One possibility to increase foster carers' parenting skills and to reduce child problems is through parent training. In this study, the feasibility and effectiveness of the German-translated version of Fostering Changes, a parent training programme for foster parents, was investigated. The aims of Fostering Changes are the reduction in child behavioural problems, supporting children's affect regulation, and improving the quality of the foster parent-child relationship through the promotion of foster parents' sensitivity and parenting skills. Methods: We conducted six Fostering Changes courses in 2022 and 2023, with a total of 33 foster carers (i.e., foster parents) participating. Child behavioural problems (Carer-Defined Problems Scale; primary outcome), child psychopathology (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), carer-child relationship quality (Child Relationship Behavior Inventory, Quality of Attachment Relationship Questionnaire), foster carers' stress (Parental Stress Scale), and foster carers' parenting strategies (Parenting Scale) were assessed at the start (t0) and end of each course (t1) and three months after course completion (t2). To examine the effect of training participation, mixed linear models and generalised estimating equations were applied. Additionally, effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated. Results: When comparing t0 with t1 scores, there was a significant reduction in child behavioural problems (d = 1.87) and child psychopathology (d = 0.70), and improvement in foster carers' parenting skills (d = 0.76) and the quality of the foster parent-child relationship (CRBI: d = 0.77, QUARQ: d = 0.72). Effect sizes for changes in the abovementioned variables between t0 and t2 were also moderate to large, with the exception of child psychopathology (d = 0.44). Conclusions: The results of this feasibility study, which is the first trial of Fostering Changes outside the UK, suggest that the German version of Fostering Changes could be an effective intervention for foster families. The largely comparable results for the periods t0-t1 and t0-t2 suggest constancy of the observed changes three months after course completion. Trial registration: DRKS-ID: DRKS00029014; date of registration: 23 May 2022.