While Indigenous children and youth are overrepresented in child welfare care in Canada, there are limited Indigenous foster parents to provide culturally affirmative care. This study addresses gaps in the literature by exploring the application and fostering processes from the perspectives of Indigenous caregivers in British Columbia. Five semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with Indigenous foster parents. Three key themes emerged: (a) motivations to become foster caregivers, (b) cultural barriers to becoming foster caregivers, and (c) experiences of Indigenous foster caregiving. Findings indicate that the well-being of children and cultural engagement are central to Indigenous caregivers’ fostering experiences. Meaningful cultural engagement addresses the sense of cultural connection and positive cultural identity development, often absent for Indigenous children and youth in care.
Sibling profiles, including sibling status (only-child or sibling) and sibling characteristics (sibling size, birth order, and sex), can impact on lived experiences and social interactions, and operate as protective or risk factors for a wide range of health and well-being indicators and outcomes. Using population-based data linkage to disability-specific databases, sibling profiles were compared between families of children with and without neurodevelopmental conditions. Families of children with neurodevelopmental conditions were more likely to contain siblings than only-children, and be larger families, with children more likely to have shorter gestational age, lower birthweight, younger mothers, and lower socioeconomic status than other children. The context of unique sibling experiences may be important for understanding how sibling well-being may be influenced by different family circumstances.
This study analyzes patterns, demographic characteristics, and primary concerns of callers to Kyrgyzstan's national helpline over a 3-year period (2021-2023). Descriptive analysis of 7,800 calls examined caller demographics, yearly trends, and primary concerns disaggregated by age and gender. Adults represented 71.1% of callers, with peak volume in 2022 (N = 3,100). Adults most frequently requested social assistance (20.6%) and administrative support (11.2%), while children reported psychological concerns (28%), family conflict (19.1%), and child-protection issues (16.7%). Female callers (62.1%) consistently outnumbered males across all categories. Findings reveal distinct age-based patterns, with adults seeking primarily instrumental support and children presenting psychological and relational concerns. The study underscores implications for strengthening age-appropriate helpline services and tailoring psychosocial resources for child callers in Kyrgyzstan and similar cultural contexts.
High levels of poverty and entrenched gender norms in Northern Ghana increase the risk of adolescent girls leaving school, engaging in child labor, and migrating unaccompanied. Caregivers play a vital role in reducing these risks, but few interventions focus on family-level support for girls' education. The ANZANSI Family Program combines economic empowerment with family strengthening to address child labor. A pilot randomized clinical trial (n = 97) was conducted across 10 schools, assessing caregiver-reported outcomes at baseline, 9 months, and 15 months. Results from linear mixed-effects models showed significant improvements in caregiver educational support at both follow-ups. These preliminary findings suggest caregiver-focused, multi-component interventions are feasible in settings facing resource constraints and educational inequities and may enhance caregivers' involvement in supporting girls' education.
Adolescents are vulnerable to delinquent behaviors during their period of cognitive and emotional development. Latino adolescents are often more vulnerable to delinquency behaviors and are over-involved in the juvenile system. Ten Latino youths and 15 parents/guardians participated in a culturally adapted Functional Family Therapy (FFT) intervention program. The behavioral change of the youths was measured using pre- and post-test scores on the Sorensen Self-Esteem test questionnaire and the Low Self-Control Measure. The parents/guardians’ behavioral change was measured using pre- and post-test scores from the Family Interpersonal Relationship Questionnaire. The results indicated that the youths’ self-esteem increased. The change in self-control was not statistically significant. However, in a follow-up interview 3 months after the intervention, parents reported that their youths could manage their anger effectively. Six out of 10 youths completed the program and 3 months after the intervention, did not return to the juvenile system; however, the other four youths who did not complete the program had delinquent behaviors and returned to the juvenile system. Parents/guardians’ behavioral change in some areas was statistically significant, including expressing feelings and family dialogue. In the follow-up interview, they mentioned that they practiced the learned parental and communication skills and that their family dynamic consequently changed.
Adolescence is a developmental period in which social-evaluative sensitivity intensifies and interpersonal conflicts acquire heightened psychological weight. However, the processes through which internally experienced vulnerabilities, and especially social anxiety, determine conflict behaviour are not well defined, especially in non-Western socio-ecologically diverse settings. This work is a contribution to the social information processing (SIP) theory, as it tests a moderated-mediator framework in which social anxiety is an antecedent of the selection of a conflict resolution strategy and, subsequently, of the quality of decision-making among adolescents. Structural equation modelling with bootstrap-based indirect effect estimation and measurement invariance analysis was employed to study these pathways in a stratified sample of an Indian adolescent population ( N = 496) categorised into urban, semi-urban, and rural residence groups. The results show that it is not the overall reduction in problem-solving that is the prevailing process through which societal anxiety leads to low-quality decisions. The findings have practical implications for the design of specific interventions, in that minimising avoidance-oriented evaluative processing can have more beneficial effects on decision motivation in universal skills training, particularly when community relations are tight, leading to greater social consequences. Altogether, the findings provide statistically supported evidence consistent with SIP theory and elucidate the mechanisms underlying the association between avoidance and decreased decision-making quality among adolescents in socio-ecological contexts.
Family Resource Centers are key in child maltreatment prevention by strengthening parental protective factors through community-based interventions. This study examined the impact of a Family Resource Center model on protective factors, analyzing pre- and post-service changes using the ecological model as a framework. The research question asked: Do parental protective factors change before and after participation in Family Hope Centers? Paired-sample t -tests on the Life Skills Progression revealed significant improvements in resilience, social connections, parenting knowledge, and children’s social-emotional competence. Moderate to strong effects emerged in friends, self-esteem, nurturing, and developmental support, while immigration support and child well-care showed no significant change. Findings support community-based prevention and highlight policy needs for strengthening primary prevention.
Immigrant women of African descent (IWAD) navigate oppression rooted in anti-Black racism, sexism, and nativism. While discrimination in health care is documented, the interpersonal barriers IWAD encounter within social and human service agencies remain underexplored. Consequently, this qualitative study aimed to explore these barriers through an intersectional lens, specifically examining how identity-based discrimination impacts interactions with service providers. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 10 first-generation IWAD and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, findings revealed experiences frequently shaped by compounded prejudice. Key themes included: (a) navigating provider skepticism and disbelief, (b) perceptions of preferential treatment favoring others, (c) confronting compounded stereotypes, and (d) scrutiny tied to immigrant status and race. Participants perceived provider assumptions as deeply rooted in their race, gender, and nativity, highlighting the urgent need for intersectional and anti-racist practices to dismantle barriers and ensure equitable access.
Families face significant barriers to pediatric mental health care due to marginalization and disparities. AI chatbots offer a promising, accessible solution, particularly for underserved areas. However, AI must be integrated as a complementary tool to enhance, not replace, human clinical interaction. AI can mitigate barriers related to social determinants of health, but its adoption requires ethical scrutiny regarding data security, transparency, and biases in training data. Social workers are essential, bringing expertise in program evaluation and clinical service delivery to ensure equitable and culturally responsive implementations. This article proposes an integrated practice-oriented model that positions AI as an associated, provider-driven tool rather than a human replacement. Social workers must take a pivotal role in shaping policies that promote justice, relationality, and systemic change within AI-augmented environments.
Forced migrant populations endure trauma that reverberates across generations, yet little is known about how descendants interpret these legacies. This study used a Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis (QIMS) to examine intergenerational trauma in forced migrant families. An October 2024 search across APA PsycNet, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, and the Social Sciences Citation Index yielded 776 studies. After screening, 17 met the inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed or dissertation work, published in English, and using qualitative methods. Data were coded and thematically synthesized through independent review and team triangulation. Four themes emerged: (a) trauma transmission through silence and partial disclosures, (b) cultural identity tensions, (c) disrupted family dynamics and parental roles, and (d) coping through community, storytelling, and collective healing. Findings underscore trauma’s psychological, cultural, structural, and familial transmission, highlighting the need for culturally grounded, community-based interventions.
Postpartum depression (PPD) continues to be a major maternal health issue, shaped profoundly by locally rooted cultural beliefs and family practices globally. This qualitative study explored how family-based cultural traditions influence women’s postpartum experiences through in-depth interviews with 29 mothers, which were analysed thematically. The participants were recruited from southern India. Findings show that customary practices—such as extended family care, mandated rest, and special diets—often function as protective supports enhancing emotional and physical recovery. Conversely, rigid expectations, gender role demands, and family-driven stigma around mental health can restrict autonomy and heighten distress. Culture thus plays a dual role, serving both as a buffer and as a potential trigger for PPD. The study emphasises the integration of culturally sensitive, family-oriented mental health approaches into clinical and policy frameworks to foster collaborative, culturally informed postpartum care and maternal well-being.
The psychological resilience (PR) of married couples can be affected by the emotional state of the couple. From this perspective, the aim of the present research is to examine the intervening influence of difficulties in emotion regulation (DERs) on the correlation between PR and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is under review. For this purpose, we used the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) based on the data collected from 267 heterosexual married couples (N = 534). The average age of women participating in the study was 33.52 (SD = 8.90), while that of male participants was 36.39 (SD = 9.88). In descriptive statistics, the correlation between all variables is significant at p < .001 and p < .01. According to the findings, the actor effects in the relationships between IU, DERs, and PR were found to be meaningful for both male and female respondents. Regarding the partner effects, it was found that the IU experienced by each partner predicted their PR through the other partner's DERs. That is to say, male partners' DERs mediate the association between female partners' IU and PR. Likewise, women's DERs were identified as a mediator of the relationship between men's IU and PR. Consequently, it is anticipated that if individuals experiencing IU possess heightened emotion dysregulation (both in themselves and in their partners), there will be a decrease in the overall PR of both partners. These findings are also significant from a structural family counseling perspective. It may be advisable to consider the partner effects of variables in couples therapy.
This study examines the relationship between crime prevention, public policy, and social responsibility in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16). Based on a systematic literature review of 123 peer-reviewed articles, the research uses bibliometric techniques to map thematic clusters and identify policy responses across crime types. Findings emphasize institutional roles in promoting social equity and well-being. By integrating social responsibility theory into the public policy debate, the study highlights strategies for inclusive, ethical, and evidence-based crime prevention. It concludes with a research agenda for advancing justice, community safety, and interdisciplinary practice.
Our aim was to qualitatively explore LGBTQ+ parental experiences, including stress and support, while having a newborn in the NICU. Using a community-engaged approach, we collaborated with a community advisory board of (a) LGBTQ+ parents with infants in the NICU and (b) NICU health care providers who work with LGBTQ+ parents to create semi-structured interviews exploring the NICU experiences of LGBTQ+ parents in the United States. We interviewed 10 LGBTQ+ parents who had a NICU experience within the past five years. We engaged in inductive, reflexive thematic analysis with a strengths-based, constant comparative approach and generated seven themes. Participants experienced both stress and support (queer-specific and general) in the NICU and provided valuable recommendations for LGBTQ+ parents and NICU health care providers.
System-involved fathers face barriers that limit their ability to cultivate healthy relationships with their children. This study examines how fathers describe institutional intersectionality or the hybridity of multiple-system involvement. Focus groups with system-involved fathers (N = 17) were conducted between 2021 and 2022, following completion of the 24-7 Dad (R) parenting program. Data were analyzed drawing upon a thematic analysis of hybridity. Findings show that the cyclical nature of involvement across child welfare, child support, and criminal justice forms a hybrid cycle of penalization or injustice due to mother-centricity, cultural mistrust, and societal devaluation. Racism and poverty further intensify penalization. A conceptual model outlining pathways of penalization is proposed. Interventions must center father-inclusive practices and promote a cultural reframing of fathers' value. Future research should validate the model in other contexts.
Predictors of caregiver coping have rarely been explored in caregivers of autistic youth. In a final sample of 172 caregivers of transition-age autistic youth (age = 16-30 years), living in the Midwest United States, predictors were regressed on two coping subscales, capturing adaptive and maladaptive coping. Regression models indicated that caregiver adaptive coping was predicted by positive appraisal of the caregiving experience. Caregiver maladaptive coping was predicted by youth problem behaviors, caregivers feeling much more involved than they would like, and feeling they have just enough to make ends meet at the end of the month. These findings support the need for further investigation into predictors of caregiver coping and offer important targets for future investigation and intervention.
We discuss the possibility of using the PARO robot in the practice of Czech social work. In our research, we used a modified standardized questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. In the research, we compared the evaluation of the PARO robot from the perspective of older adult home staff and older adults. The research helped to identify constructs linked to social robot acceptance that may define benefits and barriers to the implementation of social robots for older adults in social services. If social robots are to be introduced into homes for older adults, we need to respect the perspective of older adults themselves when making decisions about the use of social robots. Furthermore, there is a need for the staff in older adult homes who will be involved in the robot use to be sufficiently educated.
Using nationally representative data from 1,095 family caregivers of community-dwelling older adults in the United States (mean age = 57.9 years), this study examined associations among caregiving tasks, caregiver stress, and self-rated health and tested the moderating roles of access to community-based care services and household income. Greater caregiving task involvement was associated with poorer self-rated health, and caregiver stress mediated this relationship. Easier access to community-based services attenuated the association between caregiving tasks and stress, thereby weakening the indirect effect on health. In contrast, household income was neither significantly related to caregiver stress nor a significant moderator of the caregiving tasks-stress link. Findings underscore the importance of multilevel social work interventions that reduce caregiver stress and improve service accessibility, highlighting structural supports over financial resources alone in protecting caregivers' health.
There are vast complexities that can lead Black boys through a dreadful journey within the school-to-prison pipeline such as race, socio-economic status, and gender and sexual orientation, all of which are no fault of their own. Each of these complexities, in some form, have generated stereotypes, negative images, and labels placed upon Black boys. Within this crisis of humanity, there is a need for educators, social workers, and policymakers to adopt an openness to an alternative approach to addressing this critical concern. This article uses a composite case study to illustrate how a young Black boy faced with barriers driven by systemic issues of racism and oppression seeks unconsciously for attunement and emotional holding within a culturally affirming holding environment.
Older adults are facing complex, multifaceted psychosocial issues, such as loneliness, social isolation, financial stress, and cognitive decline, which crucially impact their mental health and quality of life. Group-based psychosocial interventions have gained recognition as valuable tools for strengthening peer interaction and collective healing. The review aims to map the important literature on psychosocial group interventions for older adults. Six electronic databases were searched from March to June 2025. Inclusion criteria are: psychosocial interventions within the last 10 years and group interventions in English research papers only. Review papers, conference proceedings, medical interventions, and individual interventions have been excluded. After the screening process, eight articles were identified as psychosocial group interventions for older adults from eight different countries. Each intervention is unique, and 90% of them effectively address the psychosocial needs of older people. The results are explained and grouped under three themes that have emerged from the research questions underlying the review. They are: (a) the efficacy of psychosocial group interventions on cognitive and mental well-being; (b) addressing social isolation, loneliness, and enhancing social connection; and (c) impact of environmental and socio-cultural contexts on older adults' psychosocial interventions. A significant observation is the need for a structured intervention model to promote the well-being of older adults. This review provides a foundation for developing new insights into psychosocial interventions for older adults.
