JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Children in foster care are at higher risk for relationship problems than their counterparts raised in their biological family due to the higher exposure/prevalence to neglect and/or maltreatment experience early in life. As a consequence, these kids may also show more challenging behavior in their foster families which in turn rises the parental stress experience of foster caregivers. Fur-thermore, the children may engage in a vicious cycle of risky relationship behaviors and expecta-tions that put them at greater risk for revictimization.

Objective:

To support foster caregivers in reducing this risk for revictimization, several intervention mod-ules delivered via the internet were developed using a consumer-based approach (Phase 1 of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy, MOST). The present study aims to decide about the selection of most effective intervention components for the optimized intervention package implementing Phase 2 of MOST.

Methods:

In a 2x2x2x2 factorial trial, an initial N = 317 foster caregivers with children ages 8-13 are randomly assigned to one of 16 conditions. The primary outcome is the rate of (re-)victimization from pre- to 3-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes include risk-taking and functional behaviors in rela-tionships. All caregivers will receive access to all components after trial ends if there is no signif-icant harm associated with any of the intervention component. Participants in the condition with all component levels on are expected to show the best improvement.

Results:

Recruitment and data collection for the factorial trial will start in March 2022. Although it is dif-ficult to predict the exact study timeline due to previous COVID-19 related delays, preliminary results are expected in February 2023.

Conclusions:

There is a need for easily accessible information related to raising children in foster care who have experienced early life adversities in order to interrupt the cycle of violence and enhance a developmental pathway of health and emotional stability. It might be useful – in addition to gen-erally useful parenting information (e.g., parental self-care or emotion regulation management) – to specifically focus on the needs of these caregivers (e.g., how to support the child to reduce dysfunctional relationship behaviors which may have developed as a consequence of early ad-verse experiences). EMPWOERYOU is a government-funded consortium, and the present sub-project aims to develop a sustainable intervention by selecting promising components based on their contribution to the outcome. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05235659