Understanding care-experienced children’s relationships through play

For children who cannot live with their birth family, adoption can offer greater stability and improved long-term outcomes than remaining in care.

Many adopted children have previously spent time in foster care, most often with foster families. The time spent in foster care can vary widely – from a few days to several years – and some children may experience multiple placements before being placed for adoption.

In the Wales Adoption Cohort Study, we work to understand the experiences and support needs of adoptive families. One of our key findings is that exceptionally warm parenting is linked to reductions in children’s mental health difficulties.

These positive changes are particularly strong for children who have experienced fewer early adversities.

Our research highlights the potential of pre- and post-adoption prevention and intervention strategies that focus on supporting warm, responsive parenting to improve mental health outcomes for adopted children.

Project aims

In some of our current projects, we are using playful methodologies to better understand the protective features of children’s close relationships in care-experienced children.

These projects include:

observing play between family members to explore how positive interactions unfold in everyday life
examining how interventions designed to support children’s social and emotional development influence their close relationships
using playful methodologies in the Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit to investigate protective factors in the relationships of children living with a special guardian – a person, often a relative, family friend, or former foster carer, who provides permanent care when children cannot live with their birth parent(s)

In these projects, we aim develop new understanding of ways to support care-experienced children and their families to thrive.

Funding

These projects are being supported with funding from the Welsh Government, Economic and Social Research Council, Health and Care Research Wales, and the Nuffield Foundation.