Supporting Sibling Activity Planning and Problem-Solving for Youth in Foster Care: A Secondary Appraisal

Background & Purpose. The promotion of sibling bonding for foster youth is enshrined at the federal, state, and practice levels, and is of interest to researchers who seek to promote prosocial relationships among siblings in care. Intervention studies of siblings in care suggest that curricularized sibling skill-building programs can be successfully shared with youth, resulting in subsequent mental health and relational outcomes (Authors, 2017; Linares et al., 2015). Yet little research has explored the specific processes by which siblings in care engage in cooperative planning and problem-solving. The current study addresses this question by examining how adolescent and pre-adolescent siblings in care collaborate in planning social activities, identifying challenging issues, and proposing and implementing sensible solutions to the issues.

Methods. The secondary study drew upon quantitative data from the Supporting Siblings in Foster Care (SIBS-FC) study, the first large-scale randomized clinical trial to evaluate a sibling relationship development intervention for foster youth. The 12-session intervention curriculum was developed to enhance sibling relationships for foster youth by supporting socially skilled behavior in individual siblings and reducing sibling dyad-based conflict. A total of 328 youth was included in the analysis, with older (n=164) and younger (n=164) siblings. The average age of older siblings was 13.1 years while younger siblings averaged 10.7 years.

The current analysis examined three outcomes that reflected an original survey instrument; the outcomes concerned sibling engagement in activity planning (4 Likert questions; alpha=.72), problem-solving by older siblings (6 Likert questions; alpha=.75), and problem-solving by younger siblings (6 Likert questions; alpha=.78). Each outcome reflected a global average of the 5-point Likerts. Multivariate OLS regressions examined whether siblings who received the intervention were more engaged in activity planning and problem-solving. All outcomes were measured at the termination of the intervention; we controlled for youth age, gender, race/ethnicity, and baseline measurement of the outcomes (as a sensitivity test to distinguish learning effects over time from intervention participation).

Results. Regression analyses determined that older siblings who participated in the intervention were more engaged in activity planning with their younger sibling, as compared to non-intervention older siblings (B=.27; p<0.01). Descriptively, these older siblings were more likely to agree with their younger sibling that they had collaboratively selected a social activity, were more satisfied in activity planning, and in carrying out the activity. However, younger siblings who participated in the intervention were not significantly more engaged in activity planning with their older sibling. In addition, siblings who participated in the intervention were no more likely than non-intervention siblings to experience improved problem-solving. Overall and descriptively, both intervention and non-intervention siblings registered moderately high to high levels of problem solving with their siblings.

Conclusions & Implications. Secondary analyses suggest that the specific intervention may have spurred adolescent youth in care to collaboratively plan prosocial activities with their pre-adolescent siblings. Additionally, older and younger siblings tended to be quite invested in cooperative problem-solving. This finding implies that social work researchers and practitioners should seek out practical supports for more collaborative planning and decision-making for siblings in care.