Children in foster care: What behaviours do carers find challenging? Olivia OCTOMAN, Sara MCLEAN and Julie SLEEP The Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Key words behaviour, foster carer, out-of-home care, support, training. Correspondence Sara McLean, The Australian Centre for Child Protection, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. Email: sara.mclean@unisa.edu.au Received 31 January 2013; accepted 9 July 2013. doi:10.1111/cp.12022 Abstract Background: Children placed in care because of abuse or neglect can display a range of challenging behaviours that can be difficult for foster carers to manage. While much is known about the prevalence of behavioural disorders among children in care, little quantitative information exists about which behaviours are problematic for carers. Method: Two hundred and one foster carers of children aged 4–12 were asked to rate a range of potentially problematic behaviours via online survey. Items were drawn from existing clinical measures, a review of the practice literature, and focus group consultation. Results: Principal component analysis yielded four distinct profiles of behav- iours that carers identified as problematic. The first component reflected cognitive difficulties (e.g., executive functioning, language, and memory prob- lems). Component 2 comprised sexual or otherwise risky behaviours (e.g., drug or alcohol use). Component 3 contained behaviours of an aggressive, controlling, and violent nature (e.g., enjoying upsetting others). Component 4 contained anxiety-based behaviours (e.g., obsessive compulsive behaviour). Collectively, these four factors accounted for almost 60% of the variance. Conclusions: Four discrete profiles of problem behaviours were identified. These distinct groups of behaviour serve as a focus for targeting supports that may ultimately help enhance foster placement stability. Key Points 1 Children placed in out-of-home care can display a range of challenging behaviours that foster carers can find difficult to manage and that can lead to breakdown of foster placements. 2 Although much is known about the prevalence of behaviour disorders in out-of-home care, little is known about which behaviours are difficult for foster carers. More tailored and nuanced training can be developed by better understanding the behaviours that carers find difficult. 3 Foster carers reported four distinct behaviour profiles: (1) behaviour reflecting underlying cognitive difficulties, (2) sexual and other risk taking behaviour, (3) aggressive and controlling behaviour, and (4) anxiety based behaviour. These reflect very different behavioural presentations that warrant focused interventions. Support and training can be developed to target each group of problem behaviours. Introduction The number of Australian children entering and remain- ing in out-of-home care because of abuse or neglect has increased steadily each year since 2007 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2012). On 30 June 2011, there were 8449 foster carer households and Funding: Funding for the production of this report/publication/ activity has been provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. The views expressed in this report/publication/activity do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. Conflict of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. Clinical Psychologist •• (2013) ••–•• © 2013 The Australian Psychological Society 1