Measuring parenting among foster families: The development of the Foster Parent Attitudes Questionnaire (FPAQ)

Abstract

Foster parents are an increasingly vulnerable population, with documented parenting difficulties. The care they provide to maltreated children plays a critical role in these children's well-being. Parenting attitudes figure largely in the quality of care any parent may provide, and may be particularly salient for foster children. The current study was designed to create and test a measure of foster parent attitudes. Following focus groups and expert item review, a measure of foster parenting attitudes was administered to 90 foster mothers in two urban settings. The measure had very good test-retest reliability and good internal reliability. Validity was established through the measure's significant positive relation to a general measure of parenting attitudes. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 7 factors, the most robust of which was attachment/commitment to the foster child. These findings are discussed in the context of current practice and research.