P3.G127: Are Kinship Care Providers’ Trauma Experiences Related to Parenting Stress and Psychological Resilience?

Background: There are an estimated 2.6 million children in kinship care in the United States. Kinship care is the preferred placement option for children in the child welfare system, which increasingly prioritizes family preservation. Children are removed from their families of origin due to neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and a caregiver's inability to care for the child. In addition to formal arrangements through a child welfare agency, children enter kinship care informally because biological parents are not willing, able, or available to care for the child. Children often enter alternative care with increased behavioral, physical, social, emotional, and psychological challenges. Compared with biological, foster, and adoptive parents, kinship care providers have increased unmet mental and physical health needs. There is a gap in research that seeks to understand the relationship between kinship providers' trauma history, parenting stress, and their ability to persevere through challenges. This research aims to examine if a kinship caregiver's traumatic experience is related to their parenting stress and psychological resilience.

Methods: Participants were recruited using a convenience snowball sampling process that utilized social media, including Facebook (including a kinship group), LinkedIn, and a university website. All participants were caring for a child who was not their own, was over the age of 18, and resided in the United States. After obtaining informed consent, demographic data, a 24-item traumatic history questionnaire, an 18-item Parental Stress Scale, and a 15-item Dispositional Resilience Scale were completed online. Responses from the Parenting Stress Scale were categorized as 0-30 minimal stress, 31-60 moderate stress, and 61-90 severe stress. Responses from the Dispositional Resilience Scale-15 were categorized as 0-15, 16-30, and 31-45, corresponding to minimal, moderate, and maximum resilience, respectively. Participants were recruited from July to August 2023.

Results: Of 172 participants who started the study, 130 completed all survey items, resulting in a 75% completion rate. Table 1 shows descriptive information of caregivers and children in their care. Figure 1 shows the number of caregivers' past traumatic experiences reported out of 24 possible adverse experiences, with a mean and median number of 5.4 and 5, respectively. Most (76%) caregivers reported moderate stress, and equal amounts reported minimal or severe stress (11.5% in each category). Most caregivers reported moderate (62.9%) or maximum (33.8%) resilience, with only 3.2% reporting minimum resilience. Additional analysis will examine the association of caregiver trauma with parenting stress and resilience, utilizing multiple linear regression. Additionally, variables that are associated with outcomes will be controlled for. Data analysis will be completed utilizing SPSS.

Conclusion: Kinship care providers who have experienced trauma may experience increased parenting stress, which can impact their ability to provide care for children with a history of trauma. Understanding this relationship can support kinship providers in their caregiving role.