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Enhancing Adoptive Parenting

Topic Areas
Scientific Rating
Child Welfare Relevance
Post-Permanency Services
NR  — Not able to be Rated
High

About This Program

Target Population: Adoptive parents who have recently had a child from the foster care system placed with them; the child should be between 4 and 9 years old, have been placed with the adoptive family within the last year, and have serious psycho-social difficulties.

For parents/caregivers of children ages: 4 – 9

Program Overview

Enhancing Adoptive Parenting is adapted to meet the specific needs of adopters of children placed late from the foster care system. The aim is to enhance adoptive parenting by advice and discussion rather than via a training program.

The program helps adopters to acquire behavior management skills for dealing with the more intense problem behavior exhibited by maltreated children. It also aims to improve the adopter's understanding of the meaning of the child's current behavior and to help them to see how past and present might be connected. It emphases the need for adopters to conduct daily play sessions with their child and helps them adapt when their child rejects their praise and/or their rewards. It is an individualized, home-based program to be delivered by trained parent advisers. The manual contains special sections on less common, but nevertheless troubling, problems for some families (e.g., sexually inappropriate behavior, sibling conflicts, stealing and lying, etc.)


Program Goals

The goals of Enhancing Adoptive Parenting are:

  • Increase parenting skill and understanding, and satisfaction with parenting
  • Reduce child mental health problems

Logic Model

The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Enhancing Adoptive Parenting.

Essential Components

The essential components of Enhancing Adoptive Parenting include:

  • This is an individualized, not group, program and is time-limited.
  • Parenting advisers will assess the current level of adopter parenting skill, understanding, and receptiveness to the program.
  • Both parents, if applicable, are encouraged to attend.
  • The range of problems presented by the child and the level of challenge and stress experienced by the adopters will be assessed.
  • The trained parent adviser will provide 10 weekly session of 1.5 hours in the adopter's home (or other suitably private venue) using the published Enhancing Adoptive Parenting manual.
  • The topics for the sessions include:
    • Understanding insecurity and attachment and their effect on behavior
    • Using positive attention to change behavior
    • Participating in special daily play sessions
    • Using verbal praise and rewards
    • Using clear communication and boundaries
    • Ignoring undesirable behavior
    • Using effective discipline and problem solving
  • Adopters are taught to read the child's behavior and to reflect on their own emotions and reactions to the child.
  • Extra sessions include wetting and soiling, sexualized behavior, sibling and peer difficulties, emotional regulation difficulties, and fears and anxieties.
  • The adopters work through the successful development of positive parenting strategies even in the face of a resistant or rejecting child.
  • The adopters are provided with homework between each session to reinforce the new learning.
  • Before and after measures of child problem frequency and intensity and parenting skill and confidence are collected.

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

Enhancing Adoptive Parenting directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

  • Recently adopted a child aged 4-9 years old with psychosocial problems from the foster care system and have difficulty in managing and understanding the child's problems
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Adopters are expected to have special play sessions daily with their adopted children.

Recommended Intensity:

Weekly sessions of an hour and a half

Recommended Duration:

10 weeks

Delivery Setting

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Adoptive Home

Homework

Enhancing Adoptive Parenting includes a homework component:

Each session is followed by a handout and homework with reporting back the following week.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

The intention is individualized and home-based to maximize attendance and to make it more intensive than a group-based program.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Professional qualification in social work or psychological therapy

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:
Training Type/Location:

On site, but only currently available in London, England

Number of days/hours:

2 days

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

The following studies were not included in rating Enhancing Adoptive Parenting on the Scientific Rating Scale...

Rushton, A., Monck, E., Leese, M., McCrone, P., & Sharac, J. (2010). Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: A randomised controlled trial. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 15(4), 529–542 . https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104510365041

The purpose of the study was to evaluate two parenting programs designed for adopters of children from the foster care system. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two parenting interventions (a cognitive-behavioral approach or an educational approach) or to a waitlist control group. Due to the small sample size, the parenting intervention groups were merged together and compared to the control group in the analyses. Measures utilized include the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Expression of Feelings Questionnaire, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), Daily Hassles, and the Satisfaction with Parenting Advice Questionnaire. Results indicate that at follow-up, a significant difference was found for “satisfaction with parenting” in favor of the intervention group and negative parenting approaches were reduced in the intervention group. However, no significant differences in child problems were found between the intervention and control groups. Limitations include the small sample size, limited power in the study to determine significant changes, and concerns about generalizability due to the large percentage of eligible families who declined to participate. Note: This article was not used in the rating process since it does not report on the entire version of Enhancing Adoptive Parenting.

Sharac J., McCrone P., Rushton A., & Monck E. (2011). Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: A cost effectiveness analysis. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 16(2), 110–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2010.00587.x

The study used the same sample as Rushton et al. (2010). The purpose of the study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of parenting programs for adopted children with behavior problems. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two parenting interventions (a cognitive-behavioral approach or an educational approach) or to a waitlist control group. Due to the small sample size, the parenting intervention groups were merged together and compared to the control group in the analyses. Measures utilized include the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Expression of Feelings Questionnaire, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, Daily Hassles, and the Parental Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results indicate that at 6-month follow-up, a significant difference was found for “satisfaction with parenting” in favor of the intervention group. No significant differences were found on child measures between the combined intervention groups and control group, adjusting for baseline scores. The mean costs for the combined intervention group were significantly higher than for the control group at the post-intervention point. However, over the entire follow-up period, the cost difference was not statistically significant. Limitations include the small sample size, limited power in the study, reliance on self-report data on service use, and the short follow-up time frame. Note: This article was not used in the rating process since it does not report on the entire version of Enhancing Adoptive Parenting.

Additional References

Rushton, A., & Upright, H. (2012). Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: A parenting programme for use with new adopters of challenging children. British Association of Adoption and Fostering: London.

Rushton A. and Monck E. (2009) Enhancing Adoptive Parenting: A Test of Effectiveness. British Association for Adoption and Fostering: London.

Rushton A, Monck E., Leese M, McCrone P. and Sharac J. (2010) Enhancing adoptive parenting: a randomised controlled trial. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Contact Information

PAC-UK London Office
Agency/Affiliation: Post Adoption Centre
Email:
Phone: (020) 728-4055 x5

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: July 2024

Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: March 2020

Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: October 2012