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<p>Foster parenting is a highly demanding caregiving profession that involves sustained emotional engagement with vulnerable children and significant institutional constraints. These demands may adversely affect foster parents’ professional well-being and professional quality of life. Within this context, institutional support provided by child welfare services represents a critical resource that may help buffer professional strain. The present study examined the role of perceived institutional support as a protective factor for foster parents’ professional well-being, with a specific focus on the mediating role of the three dimensions of Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL): burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. The study was conducted among 1,181 foster parents working within the French child welfare system. Using mediation analyses, we examined both direct and indirect associations between perceived institutional support and professional well-being. Results showed that higher perceived institutional support was associated with better professional well-being and that this association was partially mediated by burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Perceived institutional support accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in burnout (R² = 0.26) and professional well-being (R² = 0.33). These findings highlight the central role of institutional support in shaping foster parents’ professional experiences and underscore the importance of organizational resources aimed at preventing professional exhaustion and promoting sustainable foster care engagement.</p>

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The Crucial Link: How Institutional Support Shapes the Professional Quality of Life of Foster Parents in France

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月19日

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  • Tess Bretesché,
  • Mathieu Pereira,
  • Quentin Hallez,
  • Rebecca Shankland,
  • Fabien Bacro

摘要

Foster parenting is a highly demanding caregiving profession that involves sustained emotional engagement with vulnerable children and significant institutional constraints. These demands may adversely affect foster parents’ professional well-being and professional quality of life. Within this context, institutional support provided by child welfare services represents a critical resource that may help buffer professional strain. The present study examined the role of perceived institutional support as a protective factor for foster parents’ professional well-being, with a specific focus on the mediating role of the three dimensions of Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL): burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. The study was conducted among 1,181 foster parents working within the French child welfare system. Using mediation analyses, we examined both direct and indirect associations between perceived institutional support and professional well-being. Results showed that higher perceived institutional support was associated with better professional well-being and that this association was partially mediated by burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Perceived institutional support accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in burnout (R² = 0.26) and professional well-being (R² = 0.33). These findings highlight the central role of institutional support in shaping foster parents’ professional experiences and underscore the importance of organizational resources aimed at preventing professional exhaustion and promoting sustainable foster care engagement.