Despite the use of support groups among adoptive parents, few empirical works have assessed outcomes associated with participation in these groups, particularly those delivered via virtual platforms. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of participation in a virtual, pilot-phase 10-week adoptive parent support group, on adoptive parent stress and parental competence. The pilot included support groups at two sites in one south-eastern state, one urban and the other rural. Data were collected via a retrospective pre-/post-design and utilized the Parental Stress Scale and Parental Sense of Competency measures to assess variables of interest. Analyses indicate significant increases in adoptive parent competency and significant decreases in parental stress within support groups at the urban site. No such significant differences were detected for participants in the rural group. Overall, findings indicate that support groups can be beneficial in addressing challenges associated with caregiver stress and competency among adoptive parents. As well, data suggest the need to be attentive to support group structure and duration, among other factors. After a brief review of pertinent background information, this paper will outline findings from this study and discuss salient implications derived from this effort.

中文翻译：

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评估虚拟支持小组对养父母压力和能力的影响：城市/农村试点研究的结果

尽管在养父母中使用了支持小组，但很少有实证工作评估与参与这些小组相关的结果，尤其是通过虚拟平台提供的结果。本研究的目的是评估参加一个为期 10 周的虚拟试行阶段养父母支持小组对养父母压力和父母能力的影响。试点包括位于东南部一个州、一个城市和另一个农村的两个地点的支持小组。数据是通过回顾性的前/后设计收集的，并利用父母压力量表和父母能力意识来评估感兴趣的变量。分析表明，在城市站点的支持小组中，养父母能力显着提高，父母压力显着降低。农村组的参与者没有发现这种显着差异。总体而言，研究结果表明，支持小组有助于解决与养父母的照顾者压力和能力相关的挑战。同样，数据表明需要注意支持团队结构和持续时间等因素。在简要回顾相关背景信息后，本文将概述这项研究的结果，并讨论从这项工作中得出的显着影响。