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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2022

Mentalization in foster care through structured interactions: A pathway to reduce distractive phenomenon

Anne Plantade-Gipch
Alain Blanchet
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

Objective: While children in foster care are at risk of developing pathological behaviors, few studies have looked at how their behavior interacts with the parent or caregiver ones. The purpose of this study is to explore the Emotion Regulation Strategies (ERS) of children in foster care and to highlight those most used in family and placement contexts. The adults’ ERS are also analysed to understand the co-regulatory processes at work. Method: An in-depth analysis of adult-child interaction sequences was performed. 3 data collection times were included in the observation protocol, spaced across a period of 6 months (t1, t2, and t3). Each observation, recorded using a video camera, comprised 45 minutes of free time and 15 minutes of structured tasks inspired by the work of Blandon, Calkins & Keane (2010). This period comprised: (a) free play aimed at developing joint attention, (b) a frustrating event, limited to 3 minutes, such as tidying up of games, and (c) a learning task designed to encourage cognitive reappraisal and language-use. Careful transcription and coding of ERS were performed for each sequence. Both children's and adults' ERS were coded. The children were preschoolers (Mage = 48 months, SD = 10.47 months, range = 39-66 months). All of the mothers of the participating children were present (Mage = 28.75 years, SD = 7.13 years, range = 22-41 years) as were 7 of the fathers (Mage = 31.29 years, SD = 4.96 years, range = 21-36 years). For the entire sample of children, foster carers were also included in the data collected (Mage = 47.5 years, SD = 7.21 years, range = 38-58 years). The data collection occurred before the Covid-19 pandemic and was not affected by the lockdown and exceptional measures related to this crisis. Results: Children tended to be readily distracted when interacting with adults. The distraction was more frequently observed with parents than with foster carers. While they tended to display relatively normative processes with a foster carer, they turned to pathological avoidance mechanisms such as physical venting or self-stimulation during their interactions with parents, which highlighted the child’s disorganized behaviors in a family context. Observations of interactions during structured tasks showed a significant reduction in distraction processes in adult-child relationships. The results of the qualitative behavioral analyses indicate that the processes of mental elaboration on cognitions and emotions in the interaction helped to reduce avoidance attitudes, frequently observed in parent-child interactions. In the structured observations, the adult-child dyads had to pursue a specific goal: to complete a task. Adults who may have shown difficulties in controlling and adjusting emotionally to the child during free observations, engaged in more satisfactory cooperation, where joint attention was more deployed to succeed in the task and achieve problem-solving. Conclusion: This study highlights the prevalence of distraction behavior in foster children during their interactions with caregivers. It provides insight into how structured interactions create a containing framework that mitigates children's avoidance attitudes and enhances adult-child collaboration. A process of mentalization of emotions could be activated due to the cognitive mobilization and deployment of attention on the internal states of the adult and the child to succeed in the exercise. Mental elaboration during a task also seems to improves the quality of adult-child interactions by promoting the use of language processes. Due to the health risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, we can consider that special online interventions based on mentalization processes might have help reduce adverse interactions in foster care. Recommendations: - The distractive phenomenon is dramatically reduced using a structured interaction model - Foster children may use various types of distractive processes during the interactions with caregivers - Cognitive emotion regulation strategies provide a containing framework to develop joint attention and reduce emotional outbursts.
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Dates et versions

hal-04285660 , version 1 (14-11-2023)

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Domaine public

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  • HAL Id : hal-04285660 , version 1

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Pauline Simon, Anne Plantade-Gipch, Alain Blanchet, Nathalie Duriez. Mentalization in foster care through structured interactions: A pathway to reduce distractive phenomenon. 11th International Foster Care Research Network Conference, Grup de Recerca en Intervencions Socioeducatives en la Infància, Sep 2022, Barcelone (Faculty of Education), Spain. ⟨hal-04285660⟩
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