1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study aimed to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the development of PE [parental engagement] over the course of a child protection intervention. It was based on a multidimensional conception of this phenomenon, including parent attitudes toward the intervention, the parent-caseworker relationship and parent participation in the intervention process. The associations between these dimensions themselves, and with caseworker practices, were modelled.» (p. 5-6)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Hypothesis tested in this study are synthetized using letters […] (A, B, C, D). Thus, parent-caseworker relationship was expected to influence parent attitudes toward the intervention (Hypothesis A), which, in turn, were expected to influence parent participation in the intervention process (Hypothesis B). [It was] expected to find indirect associations between the parent-caseworker relationship and parent participation in the process, with parent attitudes playing a mediating role in this relationship (Hypothesis C). Caseworker characteristics (values, practices, knowledge), represented more specifically in [the] model by caseworker practices, were expected to influence the parent-caseworker relationship, parent attitudes toward the intervention, and parent participation in the process, upstream of PE (Hypothesis D).» (p. 2)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Parents whose children had been placed in temporary foster care were invited to participate in the study by a caseworker at the youth center where the family was receiving services. Those who agreed to participate were then contacted on two occasions by phone. The first interview (T1) was conducted, on average, 8.5 months after the child had been removed from the home. The second interview (T2) was conducted, on average, 7 months later. […] One hundred twenty-three parents in Quebec (Canada), whose child had been placed in family-based care (with a foster family or in kinship care) under Quebec’s Youth Protection Act, participated in this study. These parents were receiving services from seven youth centers (agencies) in different administrative regions.» (p. 3)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The results support the idea put forward in the literature […] that PE is mainly relational in nature. Some indications that PE evolves over the course of an intervention were also identified […]. The final model shows that the use of strength-based practices by caseworkers predicted the quality of the parent-caseworker relationship (thus supporting Hypothesis D). The parent-caseworker relationship, for its part, predicted the development of positive parent attitudes toward the CP intervention (thus supporting Hypothesis A). Contrary to what was expected, however, in the models tested here, parent attitudes toward the intervention were not associated with the development of a more positive parent-caseworker relationship, and neither the quality of this relationship nor parent attitudes predicted parent participation in the process. Lastly, the use of strength-based practices by the caseworker was not associated with more positive parent attitudes. These associations did not vary significantly in the models based on the length of the child’s placement. Significant cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were found between the three dimensions of PE, at different times in the intervention. This is consistent with the literature, where the components of PE are described as being conceptually distinct but often inter-related, or even used interchangeably by different actors […]. Parents’ experience of child protection services is often found to be contingent on their relationship with the caseworker […].» (p. 6)