Child’s adjustment and parent-child contact after child placement into foster care: a systematic review

Whereas most biological parents have some form of contact with their children following foster placement, the outcomes of parental visitation for child adjustment remain unclear. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to document associations between parent-child contact and foster child’s adjustment. Research databases for social services and psychology were systematically searched for relevant studies. Of 174 potential studies explored, 18 empirical studies were retained. Analysis revealed that parental contact is associated with attachment to the biological parent, but not with academic functioning or attachment to the foster parent. On the other hand, the results on associations between parental contact and behavioral adjustment are more contradictory, and they generally indicate an absence of association between those variables. These findings suggest that other factors are more salient for understanding the adjustment of foster children.