ERIC Number: EJ1461759
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2692-9384
Available Date: 2024-09-05
Interventions for Pre-School Children in Foster Care: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials of Child-Related Outcomes
Natalie Kirby1; Camilla Biggs2; Megan Garside1; Gloria Cheung3; Philip Wilson4,5; Matt Forde6; Manuela Deidda7; Dennis Ougrin8; Fiona Turner9; Karen Crawford9; Helen Minnis9
JCPP Advances, v5 n1 e12273 2025
Background: Children in foster care are at high risk of future mental health and developmental difficulties. A number of interventions may be helpful; however, the effectiveness of interventions specifically for pre-school children in foster care is not well established. This is an important omission, since infancy and early childhood may be the optimal period for interventions to prevent future problems. The current systematic review set out to establish the existing evidence base for interventions to improve social-emotional, developmental and relational outcomes for pre-school children in foster and kinship care. Methods: Searches of online databases were undertaken in June 2023 with keyword search terms related to the study population and design. Studies utilising a randomised control design to measure the effectiveness of interventions for foster children aged 0-7 years were included. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias (ROB-2) tool and effects evaluated using narrative synthesis and GRADE assessments of included interventions and outcomes. Results: Searches identified 6815 results. Twenty studies, describing seven interventions, met inclusion criteria. Fifteen studies reported intervention benefits comparative to control in at least one outcome domain, with particularly good evidence for Attachment and Behaviour Catch-Up (ABC) in improving developmental outcomes. There was also evidence for Multi-Treatment Foster Care for Pre-Schoolers (MTFC-P), Kids In Transition To School (KITS), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and HeadStart in improving behavioural outcomes. The findings for relational outcomes, including attachment, were mixed; however, there was some evidence for MTFC-P and ABC in reducing avoidant attachment. Conclusions: This systematic review contributes to our current understanding of how we might best support pre-school children in foster care. It remains unclear whether the effectiveness of particular interventions may be moderated by participant or intervention characteristics. Further research is needed to understand which interventions work best for whom in this group. Despite some variability in methodological quality and heterogeneity across studies, our findings suggest that certain interventions are likely to be helpful for young children in foster care. Dissemination and ongoing evaluation of the evidence-based interventions highlighted within this review should be implemented in clinical practice.
Descriptors: Preschool Children, Foster Care, Intervention, Social Emotional Learning, Child Development, Children
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds, UK; 2University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland; 3York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, York, UK; 4Institute of Applied Health Sciences, Aberdeen, Scotland; 5Division of General Practice, Institute for Public Health, Copenhagen, Denmark; 6NSPCC, London, UK; 7HEHTA, Glasgow, Scotland; 8Youth Resilience Unit, Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, London, UK; 9School of Health and Wellbeing, Glasgow, Scotland