Parenting Behaviors and Parental Stress Among Foster Parents

While associations between child behavior, parenting behaviors, and foster parent stress have been established, a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between parenting behaviors and parental stress in foster parents is needed. This study included a convenience sample of 65 licensed foster caregivers from across the United States to address the following research question: is there an association between foster parenting behaviors and parental stress? Separate models were run for (a) adaptive parenting behaviors (involvement, positive parenting) as it relates to parenting stress and (b) maladaptive parenting behaviors (poor monitoring/supervision, inconsistent discipline, and corporal punishment) and parental stress. Results indicated that higher levels of parental involvement with children were associated with lower levels of parental stress. For maladaptive parenting behaviors, it was identified that more inconsistent discipline and higher endorsement of corporal punishment as a discipline strategy were associated with higher levels of stress, however, poor monitoring was not found to be associated with levels of stress in this model. Results support the importance of training foster parents in positive parenting strategies or intervening with foster parents who may endorse more negative forms of behavior modification.