Wie geht es den Pflegekindern in Deutschland? : die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität von Pflegekindern unter besonderer Berücksichtigung potentieller Einflussfaktoren

The present thesis investigated subjective well-being and subjective functional capacity in German foster children. To that end, the concept of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed. It was expected that because of their stress experiences and increased psychological problems, foster children would yield a lower HRQOL than children and adolescents from the general population. In addition, influencing factors and the consistency between self- and other-ratings were examined. A total of 131 foster children between 8 and 16 years of age and 153 foster parents participated in an online survey. The foster children’s HRQOL was measured using the self- and other-version of the KIDSCREEN-27. For the assessment of potential influencing factors, a self-constructed parent questionnaire and the German version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were adopted. As expected, foster children reported a lower HRQOL, but only in male foster children, all examined areas of life were affected. Surprisingly, female foster children reported a HRQOL for the physical, familial, and academic area that was comparable to the respective KIDSCREEN-27 norm sample. As influencing factors, particularly sex, psychological problems, prosocial behaviour, chronic pain, long-term medication, and the experience of neglect during early childhood were associated significantly with foster children’s HRQOL. Self- and other-ratings turned out to be comparable. In spite of the in part surprisingly positive results, the child and youth welfare system should provide more resources to the vulnerable population of foster children and their foster parents, so that foster children can develop a higher well-being and subjective functional capacity in important areas of life.