Early separation from primary caretakers: Effects of foster care on perceptions and expectations of interpersonal relationships.

摘要

This study addressed the hypothesis that children in foster care who have suffered early traumatic separation from and loss of primary caretakers will have more negative expectations and perceptions of interpersonal relationships than peers who have remained at home, and that this difference will be reflected in scores on the Interpersonal Indices of the Rorschach. The study included samples of 22 eight-year-old and 22 twelve-year-old foster children selected from an archival data pool at a low fee community clinic. Each group consisted of 14 boys and 8 girls who had been permanently separated from primary caretakers before the age of six. The two foster-care groups' scores on the Rorschach Interpersonal Indices (Pure H, All H, T, Fd, PER, COP, AG, a, p, and Isolate/R), reflecting interpersonal expectations and perceptions, were compared to Exner's normative scores of corresponding age groups, as well as scores from a published clinical sample of non-foster care children diagnosed with PTSD (Holaday, 2000).; Overall, this study found mixed support for the hypotheses. Pure H, T, COP, and a were found to be significantly lower for both 8- and 12-year-olds, while PER and p were found to be significantly lower for only 12-year-olds. Assessments of age and gender effects were also conducted. Eight-year-old boys and girls differed from the norm in the same direction, with boys' exhibiting greater discrepancy, indicating an even more negative impact on relational expectations. Findings among 12-year-olds were more complex with boys and girls showing significant results on different indices.; These results indicate that when compared to Exner's norms, the sample foster children base perceptions of others more on fantasy than actual experience, are less likely to seek interpersonal connections, have fewer expectations for positive interaction, and experience feelings of helplessness. Additionally, the 12-year-olds were found to have lower levels of self-esteem than the norm and to have more significant differences from the norm than the 8-year-olds, suggesting a potential cumulative negative effect of time spent in foster care on interpersonal perceptions and expectations.; Significant differences found when comparing the foster care and PTSD samples, suggest that differences from the norm in the foster sample are not due to effects of trauma alone, but reflect aspects specific to the foster care experience.