Michael Tarren-Sweeny
Biographic Data
| ID | 6024209 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Tarren-Sweeny |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Tarren-Sweeny |
| SIGNATURE | TARREN-SWEENY M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Canterbury |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9853-1090 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 131 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Parenting Support for Mothers Raised in Out‐Of‐Home Care
Research and social indicators consistently confirm that young people who exit statutory out‐of‐home care (OOHC) tend to remain socially and economically disadvantaged through young adulthood. The present article reports findings from a qualitative study of the perceived parenting support needs of eight mothers (aged 17–30 years) who had spent some or much of their childhood in OOHC in Aotearoa New Zealand. Four superordinate themes (as well as s…
Somewhere in-between’
Nations such as Australia rely on foster care to provide for children who cannot live with their family. The foster care role is challenging and unique, combining elements of personal motivations, public responsibility, and intersections of private and public space. Foster carer shortages are also a challenge for many nations. This study presents findings regarding foster carer identity that emerged from a qualitative study exploring foster carer…
An Epidemiological Investigation of Inter-Developmental, Biopsychosocial Impairment among Children and Adolescents in Foster Care
Early exposure to chronic maltreatment and other biopsychosocial adversities accounts for high prevalence of developmental impairments among children residing in foster care and other types of statutory out-of-home care (OOHC), including: complex, trait-like mental health difficulties; intellectual disability (ID); and speech and language difficulties (SLD). However, little is known about the characteristics and prevalence of co-occurring mental …
Agency support for at‐risk families
There is an urgent need to locate effective interventions for parents involved with child protection services (CPS), Oranga Tamariki in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article describes a qualitative research study that sought to understand: (1) the nature of service provision to families; (2) workers’ perceptions of challenges and effective treatment components in delivering intervention; and (3) effective practices for working with Māori. Participan…
Self-report measures of parental psychosocial functioning did not predict further maltreatment of children involved with child protection services
Self-report psychosocial measures of parenting, well-being and substance use did not predict subsequent maltreatment. • CPS-involved parents may not respond accurately to measures when their parenting is being assessed. • Professionals should be cautious in using measures, and use other methods for risk estimation of harm to children. This prospective study explored whether self-report measures of parenting self-efficacy, mood, anxiety, stress, e…
Covid ‐19
Children enter out‐of‐home care (OOHC) having experienced significant childhood adversities and trauma. Little is known about the short‐term impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on this vulnerable group. To gain some insights, we analysed the early impacts on the well‐being and experiences of children in OOHC and their carers using the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study data prior to and post the first lockdown restrictions. A total of 862 children,…
Alignment of Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder With Complex Developmental Symptomatology
Cluster analysis of maltreatment-related mental health symptoms manifested by adolescents in foster care suggest the absence of an underlying taxonomic structure. To test this further, we investigated alignment between mental health symptom profiles derived through cluster analysis and nominal diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), among a sample of 230 adolescents in long-term fost…
Mental Health Symptom Profiles of Adolescents in Foster Care
Adoption in the service of child protection
Existing over many centuries, adoption has been challenged in recent years by evidence about practices that do not respond to the principles, ethics and laws under which it should be enacted. Written from a multidisciplinary and international perspective, this article outlines the place of adoption in the child protection system, as well as its core elements of permanence and stability. Recent demographic changes in adoption throughout the world …
The Mental Health of Adolescents Residing in Court-Ordered Foster Care
An Investigation of Complex Attachment- and Trauma-Related Symptomatology Among Children in Foster and Kinship Care
The Brief Assessment Checklists (BAC-C, BAC-A)
The Assessment Checklist for Adolescents — ACA
Foster carer perceptions of support and training in the context of high burden of care
The challenges of providing sensitive and structured care for children in foster care go well beyond normative experiences of parenting. The present paper describes a mixed‐methods study of foster carers' perceived need for support and training, referenced to estimates of their burden of care. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 17 foster carers in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Carers' perceived need for support and training we…
The mental health of children in out-of-home care
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the scale, symptomatology and determinants of mental health problems of children in alternate care, and to consider the need for specialized knowledge and clinical competence for assessment and treatment of these problems. RECENT FINDINGS: The scale of mental health problems among children in care is exceptional for a nonclinical population, approaching that of clinic-referred children. Children in residential care ha…
Retrospective and concurrent predictors of the mental health of children in care
The Assessment Checklist for Children — ACC
Mental health of children in foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia
Objectives: To report baseline mental health measures from the Children in Care study, a prospective epidemiological study of children in court‐ordered foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia. Methods: Mental health, socialization and self‐esteem were assessed in 347 children in a statewide mail survey, using two carer‐report checklists, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC). Results: Ch…
The Lives of Foster Carers
The mental health and socialization of siblings in care
Foster carer perceptions of support and training in the context of high burden of care
The challenges of providing sensitive and structured care for children in foster care go well beyond normative experiences of parenting. The present paper describes a mixed‐methods study of foster carers' perceived need for support and training, referenced to estimates of their burden of care. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 17 foster carers in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Carers' perceived need for support and training we…
The mental health and socialization of siblings in care
Retrospective and concurrent predictors of the mental health of children in care
Adoption in the service of child protection
Existing over many centuries, adoption has been challenged in recent years by evidence about practices that do not respond to the principles, ethics and laws under which it should be enacted. Written from a multidisciplinary and international perspective, this article outlines the place of adoption in the child protection system, as well as its core elements of permanence and stability. Recent demographic changes in adoption throughout the world …
The Assessment Checklist for Children — ACC
The Brief Assessment Checklists (BAC-C, BAC-A)
The Assessment Checklist for Adolescents — ACA
Covid ‐19
Children enter out‐of‐home care (OOHC) having experienced significant childhood adversities and trauma. Little is known about the short‐term impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on this vulnerable group. To gain some insights, we analysed the early impacts on the well‐being and experiences of children in OOHC and their carers using the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study data prior to and post the first lockdown restrictions. A total of 862 children,…
The Lives of Foster Carers
The mental health and socialization of siblings in care
Mental health of children in foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia
Objectives: To report baseline mental health measures from the Children in Care study, a prospective epidemiological study of children in court‐ordered foster and kinship care in New South Wales, Australia. Methods: Mental health, socialization and self‐esteem were assessed in 347 children in a statewide mail survey, using two carer‐report checklists, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC). Results: Ch…
The Lives of Foster Carers
The Assessment Checklist for Children — ACC
The mental health of children in out-of-home care
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the scale, symptomatology and determinants of mental health problems of children in alternate care, and to consider the need for specialized knowledge and clinical competence for assessment and treatment of these problems. RECENT FINDINGS: The scale of mental health problems among children in care is exceptional for a nonclinical population, approaching that of clinic-referred children. Children in residential care ha…
Retrospective and concurrent predictors of the mental health of children in care
Foster carer perceptions of support and training in the context of high burden of care
The challenges of providing sensitive and structured care for children in foster care go well beyond normative experiences of parenting. The present paper describes a mixed‐methods study of foster carers' perceived need for support and training, referenced to estimates of their burden of care. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 17 foster carers in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Carers' perceived need for support and training we…
An Investigation of Complex Attachment- and Trauma-Related Symptomatology Among Children in Foster and Kinship Care
The Brief Assessment Checklists (BAC-C, BAC-A)
The Assessment Checklist for Adolescents — ACA
The Mental Health of Adolescents Residing in Court-Ordered Foster Care
Adoption in the service of child protection
Existing over many centuries, adoption has been challenged in recent years by evidence about practices that do not respond to the principles, ethics and laws under which it should be enacted. Written from a multidisciplinary and international perspective, this article outlines the place of adoption in the child protection system, as well as its core elements of permanence and stability. Recent demographic changes in adoption throughout the world …
Mental Health Symptom Profiles of Adolescents in Foster Care
Alignment of Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder With Complex Developmental Symptomatology
Cluster analysis of maltreatment-related mental health symptoms manifested by adolescents in foster care suggest the absence of an underlying taxonomic structure. To test this further, we investigated alignment between mental health symptom profiles derived through cluster analysis and nominal diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), among a sample of 230 adolescents in long-term fost…
Self-report measures of parental psychosocial functioning did not predict further maltreatment of children involved with child protection services
Self-report psychosocial measures of parenting, well-being and substance use did not predict subsequent maltreatment. • CPS-involved parents may not respond accurately to measures when their parenting is being assessed. • Professionals should be cautious in using measures, and use other methods for risk estimation of harm to children. This prospective study explored whether self-report measures of parenting self-efficacy, mood, anxiety, stress, e…
Covid ‐19
Children enter out‐of‐home care (OOHC) having experienced significant childhood adversities and trauma. Little is known about the short‐term impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on this vulnerable group. To gain some insights, we analysed the early impacts on the well‐being and experiences of children in OOHC and their carers using the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study data prior to and post the first lockdown restrictions. A total of 862 children,…
Agency support for at‐risk families
There is an urgent need to locate effective interventions for parents involved with child protection services (CPS), Oranga Tamariki in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article describes a qualitative research study that sought to understand: (1) the nature of service provision to families; (2) workers’ perceptions of challenges and effective treatment components in delivering intervention; and (3) effective practices for working with Māori. Participan…
An Epidemiological Investigation of Inter-Developmental, Biopsychosocial Impairment among Children and Adolescents in Foster Care
Early exposure to chronic maltreatment and other biopsychosocial adversities accounts for high prevalence of developmental impairments among children residing in foster care and other types of statutory out-of-home care (OOHC), including: complex, trait-like mental health difficulties; intellectual disability (ID); and speech and language difficulties (SLD). However, little is known about the characteristics and prevalence of co-occurring mental …
Parenting Support for Mothers Raised in Out‐Of‐Home Care
Research and social indicators consistently confirm that young people who exit statutory out‐of‐home care (OOHC) tend to remain socially and economically disadvantaged through young adulthood. The present article reports findings from a qualitative study of the perceived parenting support needs of eight mothers (aged 17–30 years) who had spent some or much of their childhood in OOHC in Aotearoa New Zealand. Four superordinate themes (as well as s…
Somewhere in-between’
Nations such as Australia rely on foster care to provide for children who cannot live with their family. The foster care role is challenging and unique, combining elements of personal motivations, public responsibility, and intersections of private and public space. Foster carer shortages are also a challenge for many nations. This study presents findings regarding foster carer identity that emerged from a qualitative study exploring foster carer…
Child Welfare and Adoption (17 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (16 works) · Medicine (16 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Psychiatry (14 works) · Mental health (11 works) · Nursing (11 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works) · Foster care (10 works) · Checklist (9 works)