Poster #29 - Intergenerational Conflict, Contact with Biological Parents, and Child Functioning in Kinship Caregiver Families

• In Event: Poster Session 04

Abstract

Background. Recent changes in federal policy aim to prevent children from entering foster care. The 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 1892) focuses on mitigating the detrimental effects of foster care by providing birth parents with evidence-based services and increasing supports for kinship caregivers. The inclusion of kinship caregivers signals a preference for kinship care over other forms of foster care. At the end of 2020, 407,493 children were in foster care, with 34% of foster children placed in “kinship” foster families (Child Trends, 2022). Kinship caregivers include relatives and familiar non-relatives who become primary caregivers. Kinship care is viewed by experts as more family-like, less restrictive, and more stable than traditional foster care (Lin, 2018). Research comparing kinship care and traditional foster care is mixed. Caregiver reports of support, flexibility, and shared communication with birth parents are higher in kinship families than non-kin foster families (Linares et al., 2010). From a family systems perspective, this level of familiarity between caregivers may have unintended consequences. Children in informal kinship care were more frequently the subject of child protective services investigations than children in formal kinship care and non-kin foster care (Font, 2015) and caregiver reports of conflict and triangulation with birth parents are higher among kinship caregivers than non-kin foster parents (Linares et al., 2010).
The current cross-sectional study examines relations between frequency of intergenerational conflict, children’s contact with biological parents, and child functioning. We conceptualize frequent inter-generational conflict as a threat to the family system and a source of stress for kinship caregivers that may compromise parenting. We hypothesize that more frequent intergenerational conflict is associated with poorer child functioning. The role of child contact with birth parents is exploratory. While more contact with birth mothers is associated with less child depression and fewer externalizing behaviors (McWey et al., 2010), this study will examine the main and interactive effects of both intergenerational conflict and contact between children and birth parents as predictors of children’s functioning. The findings will add to our understanding of kinship care as a preferred form of non-parental care and have value to those implementing H.R. 1892.
Methods. Between March 1, 2022 and August 31, 2022, n=205 kinship caregivers participated in a 30-minute structured telephone interview that followed the CDC’s Study of Children in Nonparental Care and incorporated several state kinship caregivers needs assessments. Table 1 presents kinship caregiver and study child (“requires the most care and assistance from you”) demographics.
Analysis Plan. Table 2 displays cross-tabs of child functioning by the frequency of intergenerational conflict and frequency of seeing the biological mother and biological father. The findings indicate that some child problems co-occur with higher levels of intergenerational conflict and lower frequency of visual contact with birth parents. For the conference, logistic regression models will be conducted that test for associations between these variables and that include controls such as the duration of time that children have lived with kinship caregivers and the reason for why children are not with their birth parents.

Authors

• Sara Elizabeth Gable, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Amelia Holliday

• Jonathon Zars

• Angela Nickell

• Bradd Anderson