Public PhD Defense of Sofia Ferreira
- CIS-Iscte
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
Sofia Silva Ferreira, a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Program in Psychology, will defend the thesis titled "To be or not to be a foster family: A mixed methods approach to promote awareness, willingness and intention to become a foster parent". The public defense is scheduled for April 22, 2025, 10:00 at Sala de Provas, B327 (Building 4) of Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon. And online: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/7441410132
Changes on room and Zoom link may be updated at Iscte's website.
Abstract
Foster care is the preferred service for protecting children in need of placement; however, the reduced number of foster families (FF) highlights the need to develop recruitment campaigns. This dissertation aims to provide evidence of the factors associated with becoming a FF and how to use messages to increase awareness, willingness, and intention to foster. To this end, three studies were developed with the following specific objectives: (1) to analyze the perspectives of FF and professionals on factors associated with the decision to foster and recruitment strategies; (2) to identify factors associated with becoming a FF from a community sample, and (3) to design and evaluate theoretically informed messages. The results suggest that professionals, families, and people in the community consider that becoming a FF is fundamentally a result of reflective motivational processes (e.g., child-centered) and the availability of individual resources (i.e. self-efficacy, available time). For families and professionals, factors related to family, social support, and system resources are determining factors. Having an action plan was particularly significant for the community participants. Regarding the messages developed, the one that focused on overcoming the anticipation of separation from the foster child was found to be the most engaging and perceived as the most effective. In summary, the results of these three studies provide a theoretically innovative understanding of becoming a FF and can inform recruitment campaigns.
Members of the jury:
João Paulo Delgado (Instituto Politécnico do Porto)
Mariana Novo (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
Joana Baptista (Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa)
Eunice Magalhães (Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa)