Articles

Changes in the quality of attachment of children in long-term foster care in France?

Authors

  • Séverine Euillet University of Paris X
  • Myriam Kettani Université du Quebec en Outaouais
  • Hélène Join-Lambert University of Paris X

Keywords:

attachment, foster family, longitudinal study, child, long-term

Abstract

Within a developmental approach, this longitudinal research draws from attachment theory and contemporary research to analyse the evolution of the quality of attachment in children placed in family foster homes. Initially, 36 French children aged an average of 52 weeks were interviewed with the Attachment Story Completion Task. Six years later, 22 children from the initial group now aged an average of 121 months were asked to complete French versions of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment and the Adolescent Unresolved Attachment Questionnaire. The results show that these children develop a peaceful emotional relationship with caregivers after six years of fostering, but still have feelings of fear and anger related to the attachment relationship with their father or their mother. The children we met had thus developed two attachment relationships of different qualities, at least one of which was secure.

Author Biographies

Séverine Euillet, University of Paris X

Centre de Recherche Éducation et Formation (CREF), Département Carrières Sociales, Université Paris Nanterre, Paris-Nanterre, France.

Myriam Kettani, Université du Quebec en Outaouais

Departement de Psycoéducation et de Psychologie, Université du Quebec en Outaouais, Canada.

Hélène Join-Lambert, University of Paris X

Centre de Recherche Éducation et Formation (CREF), Département Carrières Sociales, Université Paris Nanterre, Paris-Nanterre, France.

Published

2018-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles