Date
12-4-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Chair
Laura Rolen
Keywords
Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), placement stability, placement disruption, child welfare, adoption, foster care, kinship care, attachment, early childhood adversity, complex developmental trauma, substitute caregiving
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Kelsey Tiernan-Coleman, "Examining the Relationship between Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®), Placement Stability, and the Voluntary Placement Disruption of Minor Children in Substitute Caregiving Environments" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7749.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7749
Abstract
Placement stability is associated with positive outcomes for minors in substitute caregiving environments. Numerous variables are related to placement stability, but there is a paucity of data highlighting specific interventions that improve placement stability. Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)® has been studied extensively in child welfare populations, with promising results, including improved caregiver-child attachment and decreased child internalizing and externalizing behavior, psychiatric symptomology, and caregiver burnout and stress. However, TBRI® has not been studied exclusively in relation to placement stability. This mixed-methods design study examined the relationship between TBRI®, including the degree and timing of exposure, placement stability, and voluntary placement disruption through chi square and thematic analyses. In a sample of 72 substitute caregivers, recruited via social media, findings reveal that TBRI® is positively associated with placement stability (p=.006), but not significantly related to voluntary placement disruption (p=.721). There were not significant relationships between voluntary placement disruption and either the degree (p=.438) or timing (p=.988) of exposure to TBRI®. Qualitative data indicates that TBRI® increases caregivers’ understanding of the neurobiological and behavioral impact of early adversity and the importance of placement stability and attachment relationships, shifts their perspective as caregivers, and equips them with strategies to address challenging behaviors. For caregivers who disrupted placement, dangerous behaviors and inadequate resources were driving forces. TBRI® is a valuable intervention that should be available to substitute caregivers, though continued effort is necessary to determine effective means by which to decrease voluntary placement disruption, particularly when minors exhibit behaviors perceived to be threatening.
