Predictors of the rate and course of reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder symptoms in foster children during the first year of placement.

Background: Due to adverse care experiences, foster children are at risk for developing symptoms of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED).

Objective: This study investigated the factors influencing rate and course of RAD and DSED symptoms during the first year of placement in long-term foster care.

Participants And Setting: The sample consisted of 55 foster children aged 1 to 6 years.

Attachment disorder symptoms in foster children: development and associations with attachment security.

Background: Children in foster care constitute a risk population for developing symptoms of attachment disorders. However, little is known about the longitudinal course of attachment disorders and their association with attachment security in foster children.

Method: This longitudinal study assessed attachment disorder symptoms in a sample of foster children (n = 55) aged 12 to 82 months.

Sources of social support for postpartum women with a history of childhood maltreatment: Consequences for perceived stress and general mental health in the first year after birth.

Background: Women with a history of childhood maltreatment (CM) experience the postpartum period as particularly stressful and may benefit less from social support, implicating a higher risk for mental health problems and higher stress levels in mothers with CM.

Objective: Thus, we investigated the complex relationship of CM and social support provided by different sources (intimate partner, parents, parents-in-law, friends) in predicting stress perception and mental health over the course of the first year postpartum.

Participants: In N = 295 postpartum women we assessed CM experiences, stress perception, perceived social support and general mental health 3 and 12 months postpartum.

[Promoting Secure Attachment Relationships in Foster Families with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) Intervention].

Due to a history of early adversity, foster children often show difficulties in the development of new attachment relationships. The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up Intervention (ABC) aims to promote sensitive caregiving and the development of secure attachment relationships in foster families by addressing the critical needs of foster children. The ABC intervention was implemented in Germany for the first time.

Emotional and behavior problems in adopted children - The role of early adversities and adoptive parents' regulation and behavior.

Background: Early adversity and negative experiences in the adoptive family can put adopted children at risk for emotional and behavior problems.

Objective: This study analyzes the influence of children's preadoptive history and adoptive parents' characteristics on the psychosocial adjustment of nationally and internationally adopted children in Germany.

Participants And Setting: The survey included 172 adopted children aged between 24 and 145 months and their adoptive parents.

Assessment of attachment disorder symptoms in foster children: comparing diagnostic assessment tools.

Background: Standardized methods for assessing attachment disorders are scarce but needed for research and practice.

Methods: In the current study, several assessments for attachment disorder symptoms are used within a German sample of foster children after being exposed to neglect and maltreatment in their biological families. The symptoms were assessed with four established assessment methods based on both parents' report and behavioral observation: The Rating for Infant Stranger Engagement, the Stranger at the Door, the Disturbances of Attachment Interview and the Reactive Attachment Disorder Questionnaire.

Inhibited symptoms of Attachment Disorder in children from institutional and foster care samples.

The main objective of the article was to study the prevalence of symptoms of the inhibited attachment disorder depending on type and quality of the caregiving environment. Analyses were based on data of a sample of institutionalized children from Georgia (N = 16), and two samples of foster children from Georgia (N = 27) and Germany (N = 55). Inhibited attachment disorder symptoms were assessed by the Disturbances of Attachment Interview (DAI) and the Rating of Inhibited Attachment Behavior (RInAB).

Predictors of foster parents' stress and associations to sensitivity in the first year after placement.

In Germany, almost 70 000 children are living in foster families (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2016). Many foster children show mental health problems as they were exposed to an accumulation of risk factors. Hence, foster parents are often faced with challenging parenting situations.

[The Relationship Between Attachment Representations of Foster Parents and Foster Children and the Role of the Child's Sex].

Children who have been placed in foster care after having experienced difficult family situations need to experience secure relationships. The development of a secure attachment model is regarded as a key protective factor for a healthy development. The present study examines predictors of attachment representations in a sample of 37 foster children aged three to eight years.

Foster children's attachment behavior and representation: Influence of children's pre-placement experiences and foster caregiver's sensitivity.

Although the majority of foster children have been exposed to early adversity in their biological families and have experienced one or more disruptions of attachment relationships, most studies surprisingly found foster children to be as securely attached as children in low-risk samples. However, attention has been paid almost exclusively to attachment formation in young children up to two years of age, and the majority of studies solely investigated attachment behavior whereas few is known about foster children's representations about attachment relationships. To extend findings on attachment in foster children and its predictors, our study examined both attachment behavior and representations in foster children aged between 3 and 8 years.