In accordance with the “resilience paradigm”, this study was aimed at exploring the role of the parent-child relationship in supporting internationally adopted adolescents’ ability to develop a ...strong adoptive identity and a feeling of satisfaction with their own life.
Participants were 105 Italian adopted adolescents (13–17 years) asked to complete a self-report questionnaire.
Results showed that adolescents generally feel fairly comfortable discussing adoption-related issues (especially with their mothers), have a medium-high level of adoptive identity, and appear to be quite satisfied with their life. Moreover, while adoptive identity mediates the association between openness in communication regarding adoption and adoptees’ well-being with mothers, father-child communication openness has a direct influence on well-being.
Findings highlighted that the quality of mother-child and father-child relationship plays a crucial role in guiding the process of adoptees’ identity formation and influencing their well-being. Recommendations for professionals working with adoptive families were discussed.
A high incidence of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) has been reported for children with experiences of trauma and other forms of adversity.
The ...present study aims to explore symptoms of RAD and DSED in children in two protection alternatives (international adoption and residential care) after experiences of early adversity.
The participants were 146 children: 40 children adopted into Spanish families from Russia, 49 children in residential care in Spanish institutions (40.8% in long-term foster centers) and 57 community comparison children.
The Relationship Problems Questionnaire was used to explore both RAD and DSED. All adoptive parents and institutional caregivers retrospectively reported the problems at time of placement (Wave 0), as well as the symptoms observed at the time of the study, with children aged 4–8 years old (Wave 1). At this stage, the assessment of the community comparison group was added.
Adopted and children in residential care presented high levels of RAD and DSED symptoms at placement. For adoptees, previous experiences of abuse and neglect were marginally associated with the initial presence of RAD symptoms and a significant recovery was observed after an average of three years in their families, with a certain level of longitudinal continuity between initial and later assessments. In children currently placed in long-term residential centers in Spain, DSED symptoms worsened from W0 to W1.
Adoption appears to be an effective intervention that promotes recovery of RAD and DSED symptomatology after early adversity, whereas institutionalization causes negative effects.
•Adoption appears to be an effective intervention for the recovery of Trauma Disorders symptoms.•Residential care, even if started beyond early childhood, has negative effects on DSED symptoms.•Abuse and neglect seem to be related to RAD symptomatology.
Extant literature suggests that adopted children can generate new attachment bonds with adoptive parents, although early adversity leaves an enduring mark. This research was focused on attachment ...representations when adoptees from Russia were reaching their adolescence. The participants were 29 adoptees and 38 children from a control group, aged between 8 and 13 years. The Friends and Family Interview, a semi-structured interview, assessed the narrative’s coherence, reflective function, internal working models, and attachment classification. Children’s narrative was coded into numerical data by two coders with high interrater reliability. Adopted children were classified 41% secure, 35% dismissing, 14% preoccupied, and 10% disorganized (82% secure in the control group). Children’s age, gender and verbal IQ, and family structure –but not mother’s academic level nor placement variables– were related to attachment variables in both groups. Although adoption offers a protective context that promotes secure attachment, insecurity and disorganization are still evident.
•More than one-third of the foster children in the sample displayed adaptive functioning across domains.•31.1 % of the foster children displayed poor adaptation in two or three domains.•Foster ...children with adaptive functioning across domains displayed better behavioral regulation.•Behavioral regulation may be a useful intervention target for promoting resilience among foster children.
Variability in adaptation is common among children exposed to early adversity, with a proportion of this group demonstrating adaptive functioning or resilience. The present study aimed to explore variability in adaptive functioning in social competence, mental health, and school adjustment in a sample of children in foster care, and to assess which factors differentiated resilient children (i.e., showing adaptive functioning across domains) from those who were not resilient.
We assessed 45 children in foster care aged between 4 and 9 years. The analysis was conducted from a multi-method, multi-informant perspective and included domains of functioning or competence (social competence, mental health, and school adjustment), distal factors (adversity and placement factors), and proximal psychological factors (behavioral regulation, emotion understanding, and attachment representations). Following a threshold approach, children were categorized as showing positive or negative outcomes in each domain.
17 (37.8 %) foster children were found to have positive outcomes in all three domains, whereas 14 (31.1 %) had only one or no positive outcomes. Resilient foster children displayed greater behavioral regulation than the rest of the foster children.
There is great heterogeneity in adjustment among foster children, with a substantial proportion well-adjusted across domains and almost one-third displaying difficulties in two domains or more. Consequently, the available support and interventions for foster families should correspond to this varying level of needs. Behavioral regulation seems a promising intervention target for promoting resilience among children in foster care.
Internationally adopted children who suffered early institutionalization are at risk of a late onset of internalizing problems in adolescence. Both pre-adoption, adversity-related, and post-adoption ...factors predict variability in internalizing problems in this population. Previous studies have suggested different patterns of parent-adolescent informant discrepancies in adoptive dyads
We analyzed internalizing problems among 66 adolescents internationally adopted from Russia to Spanish families using both the parent- and self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and comparing them with a low-risk, community group (n = 30). We assessed pre-adoption and post-adoption factors and evaluated cross-informant discrepancies.
Internationally adopted adolescents exhibited more internalizing problems by parent-report than community adolescents, but there were no differences by self-report. Adopted youth showed no discrepancies between parent and self-report, whereas community adolescents reported more internalizing symptoms than their parents. Pre-adoption adversity-related factors predicted parent-reported internalizing problems, while post-adoption factors predicted self-reported internalizing problems.
Parent-adolescent informant discrepancies in adopted adolescents from Eastern Europe for internalizing symptoms were lower than in community adolescents. Both adversity-related factors and the lived experience of adoption may influence the development of internalizing symptoms in internationally adopted adolescents.
This study compares a sample of 223 adopted adolescents with a nonadopted reference group representative of the Spanish adolescent population from the “Spanish Health Behaviour in School-Aged ...Children (HBSC) study.” Variables related to the family context, peers, school context, and emotional well-being are compared. Adoptees are not only analyzed as a group, but also according to the type of adoption (domestic or intercountry) and the birth area of origin (Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe). The results showed more similarities than differences between the whole group of adoptees and the reference group, as well as heterogeneity within the adoptees depending on their origin.
Research is consistent in showing that international adoption is an intervention leading to great recovery for adopted children, but there is a need of research on factors associated with recovery. ...The present study is aimed at: (a) assessing children's cognitive skills and social-emotional dimensions on their arrival to their new family; (b) evaluating their development after one year; (c) identifying which factors influence development, taking into account children's gender, age, health status on arrival, years of institutionalization, and the initial psychological delay. Participants were 53 internationally adopted children (30 boys and 23 girls), aged 5.68 years old on average at placement (range 2-14). Results showed that children's development one year after adoption was extraordinary, both in cognitive skills and in social-emotional dimensions. The children more delayed on arrival showed the larger progress over time, and their recovery was greater in cognitive skills than in social-emotional dimensions.
•Adoptive parents report normative social skills in their children.•Teachers report a decrease in the social skills of adoptees throughout childhood.•Institutionalized children present significant ...social difficulties.
In a previous study, Palacios et al. (2013) explored the social competence of international adoptees, institutionalized children and a community group of peers during early childhood, mean age 6.5 years. As reported by caregivers and teachers, institutionalized children were found to have lower social skills than children growing up in family contexts. This paper presents the longitudinal follow-up of these 3 groups of children at a mean age of 11 years, as well as between-group and cross-informant comparisons in the second wave of the study. Parents/caregivers and teachers rated the children's social skills, while their sociometric status was reported by teachers. Adoptive parents reported normative social skills in their children, while teachers offered a more negative view. Institutionalized children scored significantly lower than the community group, from caregivers’ and teachers’ perspectives. The probability of having a good friend was statistically similar in all 3 groups, although adoptees tended to have a more negative sociometric status. Compared with the previous data collection, teachers reported a significant decrease in social skills for the adopted group, while the social difficulties remained stable over time in the institutionalized group. This study highlights the importance of studying social competence from a developmental and multi-contextual perspective, especially among children exposed to experiences of early adversity.
In an attempt to go beyond the analysis of children's outcomes in adoption research, the central goal of this study was the analysis of parents' reflective functioning (PRF)—understood as the ...parents' capacity to reflect upon their own experience as parents, upon their child's experience, and upon the relationships between them— and its connection with parent-child interactions (PCI)—referring to the behavioral patterns observed in verbal and non-verbal interactions between parents and children around a task. To measure PRF, the Parent Development Interview (PDI) was administered to 40 internationally adoptive and 58 non-adoptive parents. To measure PCI, the parent-child dyads were observed while interacting in a co-construction task. The results show reliable psychometric characteristics of PDI instrument for its use with a Spanish sample. Compared to non-adoptive mothers, adoptive PRF was found more articulate and positive, with non-adoptive mothers scoring higher in less positive or openly negative contents. Furthermore, some characteristics of the children (age and gender) and the parents (educational level) were significantly related to PDI factors. For the adoptive dyads, the relationship between PRF and PCI was particularly significant regarding the PDI contents related to the positive perception of the child in the relationship. Moreover, the behaviors in the PCI task were influenced by the child's gender and age at placement. The way parents behave with their children is influenced by their thoughts and feelings about them, and the promotion of parental mind-mindedness may facilitate more constructive interactions.
•The PDI instrument, for its use with a Spanish sample, shows reliable psychometric characteristics•Parents' reflective functioning (PRF) is more articulate and positive in adoptive families than non-adoptive families•The characteristics of the children (age and gender) and the parents (educational level) are related to PRF•Adoptive parent-child interactions (PCI) are influenced by PRF as well as the child's gender and age at placement•Promotion of parental mind-mindedness may facilitate more constructive interactions
The human-animal bond is crucial for the proper development of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) sessions. However, in specific cases such as in AAT focused on psychiatric patients who are admitted to ...acute units, there is only a short period of time available to establish this bond.
To assess the degree of HAB generated after two AAT sessions in adolescents admitted to acute psychiatry units.
A prospective multicenter cohort study aimed at adolescents aged 13 to 17 years admitted to the acute child and adolescent psychiatry unit of three hospitals.
Two weekly 1 h group sessions of AAT with therapy dogs.
The Center for the Study of Animal Wellness Pet Bonding Scale Survey (CSAWPB).
One hundred and fourteen adolescents participated. A positive perception of the dog was generated, achieving a good level of bonding and attachment.
The results obtained make it possible to affirm that a short period of time is enough to establish a good HAB between patients and therapy dogs. This study aims to contribute to the study of non-pharmacological interventions as a complement to pharmacological treatments in adolescents with mental health disorders.
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