Place attachment is the cognitive-emotional bond individuals develop for physical locations. It can develop toward residential settings and is often associated with positive emotions and psychological and physical comfort. Literature in social work, and other social sciences, lack an exploration of the physical features that contribute to the development of place attachment toward residences for children in foster care. Using a retrospective mixed-methods design, this study examines the physical attributes of North American foster care environments that did—or did not—encourage place attachment in foster children between the ages of 7–12. Participants recalled a low level of place attachment toward their foster residences; place attachment and participants’ ease of recall of a foster residence were positively correlated. Perceived impact of the physical environment on sense of comfort in a foster home was neutral. Three open-ended items revealed themes concerned with "furniture,” “entertainment,” specific “structural features,” and “outdoor attributes” contributed to the development of place attachment toward past residences, while “inadequate space,” “aesthetics and ambience,” and “lack of cleanliness and organization” did not contribute to place attachment. “Outdoor attributes,” “adequate space,” and “entertainment” were noted as desirable in foster residences to facilitate the development of place attachment. This study may guide social workers and government administrators in understanding links between the physical attributes of foster homes and children’s psychoemotional responses. It adds to a small but growing number of studies at the intersection of social work and environmental psychology that may improve quality of life for children in foster care.

地方依恋是个人为物理位置建立的认知-情感纽带。它可以向住宅环境发展，并且通常与积极的情绪以及心理和身体的舒适度有关。社会工作和其他社会科学方面的文献缺乏对导致寄养儿童对住所的场所依恋发展的物理特征的探索。本研究采用回顾性混合方法设计，研究了北美寄养环境的物理属性，这些环境确实或没有鼓励 7-12 岁寄养儿童的地方依恋。参与者回忆说，他们对寄养住所的地方依恋程度很低;地方依恋和参与者对寄养住所的回忆容易程度呈正相关。物理环境对寄养家庭舒适度的感知影响是中性的。三个开放式项目揭示了与 “家具”、“娱乐”、特定 “结构特征 ”和 “户外属性 ”有关的主题，这些主题有助于对过去住宅的地方依恋发展，而 “空间不足”、“美学和氛围 ”和 “缺乏清洁和组织 ”则无助于地方依恋。“户外属性”、“充足的空间 ”和 “娱乐 ”被认为是寄养住宅中可取的，以促进地方依恋的发展。这项研究可以指导社会工作者和政府管理人员了解寄养家庭的身体属性与儿童的心理情绪反应之间的联系。它增加了社会工作和环境心理学交叉领域的少量但越来越多的研究，这些研究可能会改善寄养儿童的生活质量。