Date
4-17-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Tracy Baker
Keywords
Foster Care, Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), Foster Parent, trauma, cope, distress
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Smith, Latronia, "Foster Parents’ Perspectives on Factors Influencing the Development of and the Impact Associated with Secondary Traumatic Stress" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5321.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5321
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand secondary traumatic stress (STS) for foster parents who care for children who have experienced trauma. The three research questions that guided this study were: how do foster caregivers describe their experience with STS, what factors do foster parents perceive as contributors to the development of STS, and how do foster parents cope with symptoms of distress associated with STS? The theoretical framework for the study was based on the stress process theory by Pearlin (1981) which focuses on sources of stress, manifestations of stress, and coping strategies. Data was collected using the secondary traumatic stress scale (STSS) as a prescreening, a demographic questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The number of participants was selected from the data received on the STSS. The data was analyzed by transcribing the interviews, horizontalization, and cluster of meaning. Data analysis strategies were implemented to allow themes to develop. Seven themes and 13 subthemes were developed. After a thorough review of the findings, recommendations were made for future research.
