A phenomenological study of foster carers\u27 experiences of formal and informal support

Foster children are showing a higher prevalence of maladaptive physical and psychosocial issues than ever before. The presence of these issues is predictive of foster placement instability, which is compounded by the inability to recruit and retain foster carers. As placement disruption can have numerous consequences, the factors that influence placement stability have been reviewed. Carer strain is a widespread destabilizing factor, which is augmented by many factors including the perceived level of practical and emotional support from both formal and informal networks. Formal support is linked to placement stability, although carers generally feel undervalued and unappreciated by formal networks. Alternatively, informal networks enhance carer psychosocial wellbeing and improve placement stability. However from the literature reviewed, there appear to be a limited understanding of the influence that both formal and informal support networks have on a foster carers\u27 ability to provide a nurturing foster home. The number of children in foster care has increased significantly, which is compounded by the inability to recruit and retain carers. Previous research has shown that formal and informal support can improve carer retention, although little research has explored this in Australia. The present study used a phenomenological approach with seven carers through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis indicated that carers derived satisfaction from fostering, although this was hindered by child behaviour and biological parents. Carers also felt unsupported and unappreciated by formal networks, which manifested through issues such as: inadequate child-information, irregular contact, exclusion from decision-making and unacknowledged attachments during placement termination. With informal support, carers described feeling socially restricted and often received criticism, although some carers received positive responses from informal networks, and emphasised the need for contact with other carers. These findings highlight the importance of formal and informal support in reducing carer strain and improving carer retention

Psychophysiological research of borderline personality disorder: Review and implications for biosocial theory

According to the Biosocial theory, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is developed by a biological predisposition to hyperarousal and hyperreactivity combined with an invalidating environment. Although widely supported by subjective measures, the impaired insight present in BPD may skew results, and thus psychophysiological measures have been suggested as an alternative method of examining possible biological differences in BPD. The current review aimed to critically assess psychophysiological research of BPD by electronic searching of relevant databases, with 22 articles meeting inclusion criteria. Results showed that in contrast to the hyperarousal proposed in the Biosocial theory, BPD was associated with hypoarousal and hyporeactivity to non-emotionally valenced stimuli. However, there was also evidence of BPD hyperreactivity towards negatively valenced stimuli, and impaired habituation during stressor tasks. As current psychophysiological results were inconsistent, it has been postulated that there may be possible subtypes of BPD. Further, evolutionary-based theories do not appear to adequately explain the complexity of emotion dysregulation in BPD, thus the Emotional Coherence theory has been proposed as an alternate method of conceptualising the role of psychophysiology in BPD. From the lack of clear or consistent findings, further research in the area appears necessary to determine the role of psychophysiology in BPD