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Developing postadoption interventions to prevent parenting stress and promote parents' well-being is urgent. Mindful parenting-based interventions show promise in achieving these goals and are well received by adoptive parents (APs). However, face-to-face interventions face significant barriers. E-health tools offer a solution by improving accessibility and flexibility and reducing long-term costs. Our main aim is to develop and assess the preliminary efficacy of a web-based mindful parenting postadoption intervention, AdoptMindful2Care@Web, by using a user-centered approach to ensure its effectiveness and cost efficiency. First, two quantitative surveys will be conducted to assess the needs and preferences of APs and gather input from adoption professionals. Then, a prototype version of the intervention will be created and tested for usability with the APs via the Think-Aloud method. Finally, a pilot version will undergo a two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial to assess its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy via self-report questionnaires. By developing AdoptMindful2Care@Web employing a user-centered approach, we hope to provide an effective intervention that is adjusted to the reality of its users and the surrounding context. In doing so, we will be able to promote AP access to specialized mental health care efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation to adopt transracially is under-researched in the South African context. This paper reports on qualitative psycho-social research, using the life stage model to investigate motivation to adopt in 26 transracially adoptive families, interviewed in focus groups and family interviews. Results indicate that the decision to adopt is complex, and influenced by opportunities and obstacles. Both parent- and child-centered motivations, as well as preferential adoption are endorsed by parents. Preferential adoption and child-centered motivation in the absence of fertility problems create a novel family form, which include both biological and adopted children, for almost half the families interviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopted adolescents create identity narratives conceptualizing their connections to their families of adoption and birth. Previous work with a sample of adoptive adolescents identified a sub‐group who reported negative experiences regarding adoption as part of their navigating of adoptive identity processes (the "Unsettled" group). The current study examined interviews with adolescents in the "Unsettled" group to elucidate these negative experiences, specifically through identifying the relationship challenges linked to adoption. Participants included 30 adopted adolescents (18 females, 12 males) from a longitudinal study of adoptive families. All the adolescents (M age = 15.2 years) were domestically adopted in infancy by heterosexual couples who were the same race as the adolescents (29 White, 1 Mexican American). Thematic analysis revealed six themes reflecting adolescents' relationship challenges as related to adoption, both in terms of interpersonal interactions and how relational experiences influenced adolescents' thoughts and feelings of past, present, and future selves: (a) Negative experiences in relationships with adoptive family members, (b) Negative experiences in relationships with birth family members, (c) Difficulties in the adoptive kinship network, (d) Negative thoughts and feelings toward the self as an adopted person, (e) Negative views toward adoption as a form of building a family, and (f) Negative connections between adoption and future relationships. Multiple subthemes were also identified that built upon topics within the adoption and family systems literature, such as communication among family members, navigation of birth family contact, and adopted adolescents' perceptions of loss. Also identified were four profiles across themes. Implications for mental health providers and adoption professionals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to explore the lived experience of fertile Iranian mothers who adopted children. In a qualitative phenomenological method, 13 participants were selected by purposive sampling and interviewed in depth. Data were analyzed by Colaizzi's method. The results showed that although adoption was reported to be a positive experience for most mothers, it is still a kind of social stigma in Iran, and adoptive mothers face many challenges due to insufficient support and help from society and families. Also, the results will help professionals design pre-adoption interventions, prevent the termination of adoption, and help adoptive mothers solve their issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memorable messages that adoptees receive throughout development may have lasting impacts on their well-being, identity development, and relationships. Given historical and current adoption practices that link adoption and Christianity, more research is needed to examine the memorable messages that adoptees received while being raised in these religious contexts. Using a qualitative approach grounded in the communicated sense-making model, 41 adult adoptees were interviewed to identify memorable messages they heard while growing up in Christian adoptive homes, the communicators of messages, and their interpretations of the messages as children and adults. Results revealed a range of memorable messages communicated primarily by adoptive parents and church members, including that the adoptee was chosen by God, that the adoption was part of God's plan, and that they were saved/rescued. Common childhood interpretation themes included accepting the messages, questioning belonging, and complying/people pleasing. Adult interpretations were generally more critical, including that the messages glossed over trauma and grief and implied negative views of first family/culture. These findings add to the literature in adoptive family communication by taking into account the religious undertones of many adoption-based messages and contribute to the broader literature on memorable messages by identifying participants' progression of sense-making in interpreting these messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adoption research has tended to focus on associated emotional and developmental challenges. There is little research on how adoptees experience counselling training and its personal and professional impact on adoptees. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the counselling training experiences of four counsellors who were adopted as babies (under 1 year of age). Methods: One‐to‐one semi‐structured interviews were conducted with two psychodynamically trained counsellors and two integratively trained counsellors. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the training experiences of adoptees, and the personal and professional impact of training. Findings: Four group experiential themes were identified: disclosure; place in world; relationships; and reflexivity. Implications for Practice: The findings contribute to the growing body of research on counsellor training and provide insights into adoptees' experiences of counselling training. These insights enable improvements in the provision of such training by counselling training providers to adoptees, and in the provision of the specialist training either required or recommended to provide adoption support. The research also furthers the understanding of adoptees' experiences more generally and may also help noncounsellor adoptees deal with issues perceived as related to their adoption as well as others who face similar issues, due to their own lived experiences. Conclusion: Both modalities of counselling training helped participants deal with difficulties presented by their adoptions, in particular regarding identity and relationships, affording opportunities for growth and healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilised the Early Growth and Development Study (N = 561 adoptive children; 57.2% male, 55.3% White), a study of children adopted at birth, to examine heritable (birth parent psychopathology) and prenatal risk (prenatal maternal distress and smoking during pregnancy), infant negative affectivity, adoptive parent over‐reactivity and warmth as independent predictors of childhood externalising symptoms. The current study evaluated if: (1) infant negative affectivity and over‐reactive parenting are candidate mediators for the effects of heritable and prenatal risk on externalising symptoms and (2) parental warmth weakens the influence of heritable risk, prenatal risk, negative affectivity and over‐reactive parenting on externalising symptoms. There were main effects of heritable risk, infant negative affectivity and over‐reactive parenting on child externalising symptoms. The study found no support for the hypothesised mediation and moderation effects, suggesting that targeting parental over‐reactivity rather than warmth would be more effective in reducing the risk for childhood externalising symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of adopted college/university students and young adults, and their unique challenges in understanding the development of their personal identities, is an important topic for research and clinical practice with adopted people. This paper examines college and university students' understanding of how their life experiences of being born Asian but being raised in a non-Asian adoptive family have influenced their personal racial identity formation and how this may have affected their choices of study and career. In addition to subjects' responses to a questionnaire, participants completed five peer-reviewed scales that revealed information about how they perceive their racial identities and their efforts to distinguish genetics from environmental influences on their personal identities. This article reports on the key findings that have significance for psychotherapists treating these students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopted children are often at a risk of experiencing several neurobiological and psychosocial difficulties. Adoptive parents must support these difficulties whilst managing their own idiosyncratic challenges. Family-based psychotherapeutic interventions which promote adoptive family functioning, environments and relationships can mediate these difficulties for adopted families. This review synthesises evidence exploring family-based psychological interventions for adoptive families, appraises the literature's strengths and weaknesses, and reports characteristics of promising interventions. Included studies recruited domestically adoptive families receiving psychotherapeutic interventions delivered to at least one adoptive parent and child. The authors searched seven electronic information databases, four grey literature databases, two journals and five relevant websites up to 12.12.2022. The quantitative Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions tool and the qualitative Critical Skills Appraisal Programme checklist assessed risk of bias. The narrative synthesis presents 20 papers detailing 18 studies involving at least 729 adopted children and 829 adoptive parents. Findings provide preliminary support for integrative interventions which include aspects of sensory activities, attachment-based play, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing with Therapeutic Input provided to adopted children and adoptive parents separately, alongside the adoptive family. However, risk of bias was high, limiting the conclusions. Future research should examine the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of integrative therapeutic approaches for adoptive families to further direct clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large numbers of children in Australia are in long-term out-of-home care (OOHC). Legal frameworks available for their care are long-term foster care, guardianship, and plenary adoption. Views of individuals with OOHC or adoption experience on these legal frameworks were explored via an online survey. A legal framework called simple adoption, which makes children legal members of adoptive families without legally excising them from birth families, was also considered. The respondents (N = 1019) evaluated aspects of these frameworks as strengths or weaknesses from which scores were calculated. Overall, simple adoption had the highest strength score, followed by plenary adoption, guardianship, and long-term foster care. The highest weakness score was for long-term foster care, followed by guardianship, plenary adoption, and simple adoption. That simple adoption enabled enduring familial relationships between children and their adoptive families while retaining legal identity and legal connection with birth families contributed to its favourable evaluation. IMPLICATIONS The legal severance of children from birth families and the supplanting of legal identity that occurs in plenary adoption makes this form of adoption unacceptable to many. Simple adoption, allowing for children to be full legal members of both their adoptive and birth families and preserving legal identity, makes it attractive to individuals with a variety of experience backgrounds. An exploration of legislative reform to allow for simple adoption in Australia should be undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, transnational adoption has been applied as a valuable measure for children in need of a family home, and for families to fulfill their child wish. The Hague Adoption convention (1993) was established to legally safeguard these processes. However, over the years, denouncements of illegal adoptions and malpractices arose. Notwithstanding, a lack of research giving overview of these malpractices and the consequences thereof remains. This contribution explores the experiences of adoptees in Flanders (Belgium) who experienced malpractices before, during and after their transnational adoption procedure. The research questions addressed are: "What malpractices do adoptees encounter?", "How do adoptees experience malpractices in their adoption procedure?", and "What needs do adoptees have?". A self-assessment questionnaire, holding into account respondents' own judgment, perception, experiences, and interpretation, was completed by 64 adoptees, and analyzed using both SPSS statistical software and Microsoft Excel. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with a heterogeneous group of 12 adoptees were conducted and thematically analyzed. Our findings contribute to descriptions of occurring malpractices, and finetune existing literature concerning the psychosocial impact of malpractices according to adoptees themselves. Findings illustrate intertwined consequences of more general, trauma related, identity development, and relationship issues. Although occurred malpractices cannot be undone, the adoptees having experienced malpractices highlight their needs and further necessary attention for the prevention of malpractices. Adequate attention and support for transnational adoption and those involved is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Treatment adherence is a central component of implementation fidelity and key to our understanding of client outcomes. This study examines treatment adherence in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and four functional outcomes among a sample of adopted youth: sensory integration, self-regulation, and relational and cognitive functioning. Methods: The sample includes 178 youth receiving supportive services from a U.S. adoption service provider. Regression analysis was used to examine clinician adherence to NMT recommendations and child outcomes. Results: Most (61.24%) of the essential or therapeutic treatment recommendations were carried out with majority adherence. A key finding is the predictive relationship between adherence to treatment recommendations and improvement in child outcomes at T2, controlling for all other variables in the model. Conclusions: Findings illustrate the importance of treatment adherence in promoting positive outcomes for children engaged in NMT. Implications are discussed regarding clinician training and reducing barriers to treatment adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who feel unaccepted by their mothers tend to have poor mental health. Although school factors (social support from homeroom or from teachers and friends, as well as classroom satisfaction) can protect students, few studies have examined these factors at the classroom level. Understanding the relationships between sense of acceptance, school factors and mental health may help students. This study, conducted in Japan, examines how sense of acceptance at the student level and school factors at the student and classroom levels affect the mental health variables of depression, loneliness, subjective happiness and emotional wellbeing. In total, 1470 Japanese school students (8–15 years old) from 68 classes participated. Multilevel analysis was conducted at the student and classroom levels. At the classroom level, social support from friends was associated with lower depression and loneliness and higher emotional wellbeing (p < 0.01). A positive classroom climate moderated the relationships of sense of acceptance with depression, loneliness, subjective happiness and emotional wellbeing (p < 0.05). Social support from friends at the classroom level and positive classroom climate at the student level serve as protective factors for students who feel unaccepted by their mothers. More activities boosting classroom student interactions would benefit such students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of caring for children with early life adversity have been identified as contributing to feelings of compassion fatigue (CF)—an emotional disconnection resulting from repeated exposure to another's trauma. Although extensive studies have focused on contributors to trauma-inducing workplace stress and well-being, research on trauma-related stress in the home, especially in adoptive parent populations, is relatively underexplored. This study aimed to understand how adoptive parents make sense of their experiences of parenting adopted children, identify core components of CF, understand parents' perceptions of contributing factors and explore wider relational impacts. Parents were recruited from Adoption UK via email invite. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve parents to form a holistic picture of adoptive parents' experiences. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Findings yielded three overarching and interrelated themes: (i) a parent not a therapist; (ii) strained connections; and (iii) support is a mirage. Findings support recent literature highlighting the reality of CF in adoptive parents and the need to develop more preventative structures and responsive systems of support adapted to the needs of adopted children but also the unique needs of their families to help prevent mental health crises across the family and adoption breakdowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The few studies that have focused on studying sibling relationships have identified dynamics between siblings as an important aspect for adoptees, due to its formative influences. This research explored lived experiences of adopted young adults regarding their origins when they have biological and non- biological adopted siblings. Seven adoptees took part in semi-structured interviews, analyzed following Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results showed a positive perception of the presence of a sibling who shares the experience of adoption and origins in the adoptive family. However, the influence of siblings seemed to hinder some aspects of one's relationships with their own origins. These findings indicate that adoptive parents and professionals should foster healthy and warm relationships between siblings from an early age, regardless of the type of siblings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercountry adoptees (ICAs) face life-long challenges within their ecological contexts that warrant exploration. Adoptees' visible adoptions make them susceptible to microaggressions. This study examined the relation between racial and adoption microaggressions (RMAs, AMAs) and youths' belonging-to-family among 98 French intercountry adopted adolescents. Moderators of this relation were also explored (visibility, identity connections to country-of-origin or adoption, and parent-adoptee communication challenges). More RMA experiences were correlated with weaker belonging-to-family; logistic regression analyses revealed that stronger identity connections to country-of-origin exacerbated this correlation. The nature of these microaggressions was similar to those noted in previous studies on ICAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research indicates that children who are adopted are more likely to live with two married parents than their peers, whereas children with disabilities are less likely to live in this family structure. However, few of these studies employed representative data and none examined how adoption and disability interact in their relationship to family structure. Using 2018 American Community Survey data (n = 3,125,485 children), we employed logistic regression models to predict the odds of a child residing with two married parents based on the child's adoption status, disability status, and the interaction of the two. Our findings support the view that adoptive parents are a select group. Our interaction term shows that the negative relationship between disability status and living with two married parents was significantly weaker for children who were adopted than those who were not, suggesting that adoption is protective for children with disabilities. We also found, however, that adopted children with disabilities were significantly less likely to live with two married parents than adopted children without disabilities. This finding supports a cumulative stress perspective among parents who adopt children with disabilities. Further supporting cumulative stress theories, we found that adopted children with disabilities (n = 7661) in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups were less likely to reside with two married parents than their counterparts. These findings suggest that while adoptive parents are a select group, there is important heterogeneity among them. Our findings also illuminate the greater need to support families who adopt children with disabilities. Highlights: Children's adoption status was positively—and disability status negatively— related to living with two married parents. The negative relationship among disability status and living with two married parents was weaker for children who were adopted. Adopted children with disabilities were less likely to live with two married parents than adopted children without disabilities. Adopted children with disabilities in disadvantaged demographic groups were less likely to live with two married parents. These findings illuminate needed nuance in both selection and cumulative stress theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue includes nine original, empirical papers selected from the 7th International Conference on Adoption Research. In the interest of disseminating the new empirical knowledge and science-based interventions to adoption stakeholders, these papers reflect what can be considered some of the most stimulating and innovative lines of research in the recent adoption literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption provides a unique opportunity to study the concurrent effect of child's biology-based characteristics and environmental influences on the adoptees' development. Herein, two Hybrid Dyadic Models—an innovation in adoption research—were tested to study the mediating role of the adoptees' negative reactivity on the relationship between mothers/fathers' supportive (Model A) and unsupportive (Model B) parenting, and adoptees' social skills. In a sample of 102 couples, mothers'/fathers' reports on adoptees' social skills and negative reactivity, and self-reports of supportive/unsupportive parenting were studied. Mothers' and fathers' supportive/unsupportive parenting were independently assessed, whereas the adoptees' negative reactivity and social skills were treated as common fate variables, with both parents' scores as indicators of a latent construct. Results were non-significant for Model A. Regarding Model B, different relationship patterns were found depending on the informant (mother/father). Higher fathers' (not mothers') unsupportive parenting was associated with higher negative reactivity in adoptees, which, in turn, was associated with lower adoptees' social skills. Considering simultaneously unique and shared perspectives of both parents, this study advances adoption research strengthening the relevance of dyadic analyses when studying the adoptive family dynamics and suggests the need to consider mothers' and fathers' different contributions for adoptive parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single parent adoption (SPA) is a relatively new construct worldwide and in India. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, has laid down criteria for adoption in general and SPA in particular, in conjunction with the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children), 2015. There is scant literature on this topic of SPA, more so in India, that looks into the various psychological nuances of SPA from a mental health professional's (MHP) perspective. This review paper aims to assess SPA from the perspective of a MHP that will focus on its various legal nuances as well as the psychological connotations attached to it. For this, a search strategy was employed that included a thorough literature search from two databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) with relevant keywords related to the topic. The various legal issues pertaining to SPA in the current scenario, the psychological issues and challenges faced by single parents, the behavioral outcomes of adoptees who are adopted by single parents, and ways to deal with the various obstacles of SPA are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rutter and colleagues' seminal observation that extended early life exposure to extreme institutional deprivation can result in what he termed quasi‐autism (QA), informed both our understanding of the effects of adversity on development and the nature of autism. Here we provide the first detailed analysis of the adult outcomes of the group of institutionally deprived‐then‐adopted children identified as displaying QA. Methods: Twenty‐six adult adoptees identified with QA in childhood (Childhood QA+) were compared to 75 adoptees who experienced extended institutional deprivation (>6 months) but no QA (Childhood QA−), and 116 adoptees exposed to Low/No institutional deprivation. The outcomes were child‐to‐adult developmental trajectories of neuro‐developmental symptoms (autism, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disinhibited social engagement (DSE) and cognitive impairment), adult functioning, life satisfaction and mental health. Results: Childhood QA+ was associated with elevated and persistent trajectories of broad‐based autism‐related difficulties, ADHD and DSE symptoms and low IQ, as well as adult mental health difficulties and functional impairment, including high rates of low educational attainment and unemployment. Life satisfaction and self‐esteem were unaffected. Autism‐related communication problems, in particular, predicted negative adult outcomes. Childhood QA+ was still associated with poor outcomes even when ADHD, DSE and IQ were controlled. Conclusions: Early and time‐limited institutional deprivation has a critical impact on adult functioning, in part via its association with an early established and persistent variant of autism, especially related to communication difficulties. Apparent similarities and differences to non‐deprivation related autism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transracial adoptees continually navigate the paradoxes of adoption, which arise in bio-normative and racialized contexts. "Being-adopted-and-Māori" was explored with 15 Māori adult adoptees. Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis revealed experiences of adoptive and racial "differentness," centered around four key paradoxes: "as if born to"; the lived experience of transracial adoption; post-reunion biological kinship; and whaka-papa. Examining these paradoxes elucidated the discursive basis of lived and felt contradictions and ambivalence, as well as otherness and exclusion. Māori adoptee identities are considered paradoxical precisely because they disobey hegemonic discourses. Their experiences tell us how dominant discourses of adoption and identity need to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study leveraged data from a longitudinal adoption study of 361 families recruited between 2003 and 2010 in the United States. We investigated how psychopathology symptoms in birth parents (BP; Mage = 24.1 years; 50.5–62.9% completed high school) and adoptive parents (AP; Mage = 37.8 years; 80.9% completed college; 94% mother–father couples) influenced children's behavioral inhibition (BI) trajectories. We used latent growth models of observed BI at 18 and 27 months, and 4.5 and 7 years in a sample of adopted children (Female = 42%, White = 57%, Black = 11%, Multi‐racial = 21%, Latinx = 9%). BI generally decreased over time, yet there was substantial variability in these trajectories. Neither BP nor AP psychopathology symptoms independently predicted systematic differences in BI trajectories. Instead, we found that AP internalizing symptoms moderated the effects of BP psychopathology on trajectories of BI, indicating a gene by environment interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses information from freedom of information requests to find the rate of children who were subject to social work interventions in Scotland before the age of 5. It finds that more than one in every four children were referred to social work and provides the rates for other types of interventions including children investigated for child protection, becoming looked after and being adopted. Despite differences in legislation and the judicial system, the study shows many similarities in rates of intervention in Scotland to similar longitudinal studies in England. The study found wide variations between local authorities in rates of these different interventions, which for most interventions was moderately correlated with deprivation and, in the case of the high disparities in rates of referral and child protection investigation, had little correlation with deprivation. The likelihood of children's involvement with social work varied markedly depending on where they lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on process of adopting a child or young person in the UK often happens through an agency. Topics include examines this can be either a local authority agency, a health and social care trust or a voluntary adoption agency and considered as part of this process, every child to be matched with prospective adopters goes through a series of discussions with an adoption panel consisting of independent experts.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED) are two interrelated diagnoses emerging from pathogenic and insufficient care during the first few years of life. They have been reported in children who were fostered or adopted after experiencing severe early deprivation through institutionalisation, as well as youth with foster care and maltreatment histories. Substantial comorbid and overlapping difficulties often coexist with both disorders, which complicates their identification. Despite a consensus that RAD and DSED are distinctive diagnoses that capture relational behaviours not elsewhere described, many questions remain about their development and treatment. Research probing underlying mechanisms for both disorders is scarce, and only a few studies exist that chronicle potential interventions. Extant treatments tend to focus on parent management training rather than attachment-based interventions and often do not incorporate assessment of the child's relational schemata and comorbid difficulties into interventions. This article expands on earlier interventions by detailing the current state of knowledge about RAD and DSED and their common comorbidities in children with foster care and adoption histories and by suggesting how to weave that knowledge into comprehensive assessment and treatment. Two case vignettes are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about adoptees' experiences through adulthood. Individuals sometimes make sense of their heritage, and come to understand and express themselves in their unique voices, through storytelling. Five mother-child(ren) dyads and triads participated. The mothers had been adopted in infancy and raised by an adoptive family. Their biological child(ren) had grown up aware their mother was an adoptee. The feminist relational method of the listening guide (Gilligan et al., 2003) was employed to hear the adoption stories passed from one generation to the next. Parent and adult child(ren) were interviewed together to explore voices embedded in the relational context of their story. The joint family interviews were analyzed for these different voices. The findings suggest mothers passed down stories of positive adoption experiences through voices that were both embracing of their adoption narrative and sometimes cautious. The children spoke from voices of embrace and curiosity. Both generations stated the meaningfulness of co-constructing family adoption narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children adopted from public care are more likely to experience emotional and behavioural problems. We investigated two aspects of emotion recognition that may be associated with these outcomes, including discrimination accuracy of emotions and response bias, in a mixed-method, multi-informant study of 4-to-8-year old children adopted from local authority care in the UK (N = 42). We compared adopted children's emotion recognition performance to that of a comparison group of children living with their birth families, who were matched by age, sex, and teacher-rated total difficulties on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, N = 42). We also examined relationships between adopted children's emotion recognition skills and their pre-adoptive histories of early adversity (indexed by cumulative adverse childhood experiences), their parent- and teacher-rated emotional and behavioural problems, and their parents' coded warmth during a Five Minute Speech Sample. Adopted children showed significantly worse facial emotion discrimination accuracy of sad and angry faces than non-adopted children. Adopted children's discrimination accuracy of scared and neutral faces was negatively associated with parent-reported behavioural problems, and discrimination accuracy of angry and scared faces was associated with parent- and teacher-reported emotional problems. Contrary to expectations, children who experienced more recorded pre-adoptive early adversity were more accurate in identifying negative emotions. Warm adoptive parenting was associated with fewer behavioural problems, and a lower tendency for children to incorrectly identify faces as angry. Study limitations and implications for intervention strategies to support adopted children's emotion recognition and psychological adjustment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate within-group differences among Danish non-kin adoptees with regard to probability of mental health problems and post-adoption out-of-home care (OHC) placement, with a particular focus on whether adoption age and country of origin mattered. Methods: I used Danish registry data on non-kin adoptees born between 1989 and 1994 (N =2922) at the age of 17 and applied bivariate analyses and seemingly unrelated regression to describe associations between non-kin adoptees' adoption characteristics and two outcomes: (a) psychiatric contact and (b) post-adoption OHC. Results: Psychiatric contact and post-adoption OHC co-occurred among non-kin adoptees, and these two life events should be considered jointly. Adoption age mattered equally for the risk of psychiatric contact and OHC, but country of origin mattered more for psychiatric contact than for OHC. Adoption at one year of age and older was associated with an elevated risk of psychiatric contact and OHC. Romanian adoptees had a higher likelihood of psychiatric contact when compared to all the other adoptees, regardless of country of origin. In contrast, adoptees from India had a lower probability of psychiatric contact and of entering OHC compared to all the other adoptees. Conclusions: The heterogeneity in non-kin adoptees' psychiatric contact and OHC in terms of adoption age and country of origin is important to consider in future research, as well as for social workers and clinicians in their role of promoting health and preventing mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Existing psychosocial research offers little information on the unique challenges and strengths of children adopted from China with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). The present study aimed to understand biopsychosocial factors that support positive self-concept in this population. Design: Qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted with children and their parents. Interpretive phenomenological analysis of transcribed interviews was utilized for data analysis. Setting: Participants were recruited in an outpatient, pediatric multidisciplinary cleft clinic during a standard team visit. Patients, Participants: Participants were ages 8 to 12 years with a diagnosis of isolated cleft lip-palate who were internationally adopted from China before the age of 2 years and English-speaking. Participants also included English-speaking parents. Results: Themes reflecting data from the child and parent subsamples include: (1) child's characteristics, (2) family strengths, (3) adoption identity, (4) cultural identity, (5) coping with a cleft, and (6) social factors. Additional 2 to 3 subthemes were identified for the parent and child subsamples within each broader theme. Conclusions: Findings from this sample suggested factors supporting positive self-concept included pride and self-efficacy in activities, family support, instilment of family values, strategies for coping with a cleft, family belonging, cultural exposure, and normalization of differences. Medical providers can support patients and families by providing education on surgeries, CL/P sequelae and outcomes, and pediatric medical stress. Mental health providers can screen for social and emotional challenges and provide psychoeducation on racial/ethnic socialization, identity development, and coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a designated adoption lead role based in a specialist child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) team serving adopted children who are considered particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health issues. Topics discussed include core aspects of the role of a specialist practitioner lead for adoption in a CAMHS team and methods of delivering advice, training, education and support to adoptive parents and adoption professionals.

Much of the extant body of adoption research focuses on children and adolescents, especially from an attachment perspective. While there is emerging research on adult attachment, very little focuses on adoptees. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were used with 22 adult Korean adoptees about their experiences in romantic relationships. Thematic analysis revealed two themes. The first was emotions, with two sub-themes of avoiding conflict through peacekeeping and emotional distancing. The second theme was views of self with respect to self-esteem and self-worth. There was one sub-theme of avoiding conflict through conformity. This is the first study to qualitatively explore the experiences of adult Korean adoptees in romantic relationships using an attachment perspective. Implications for social work practice and further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored the experiences of transracial Korean adoptee returnees who were born in Korea, separated from their biological families, raised in the United States and three European countries by White families, and given an Anglicized or Germanic name at the time of their adoption. This study focused on participants' journeys of reclaiming their Korean birth names and the various influences that factored into this decision. Data were collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews (in-person or via Skype) and coded using grounded-theory methods that integrated a constructivist-interpretivist and critical epistemological paradigm. Participants (N = 12) were transracial Korean adoptees with ages ranging from 22 to 42 years (M = 32.67 years) who were between 0 and 88 months (M = 22.33 months) at the time of adoption, all of whom had returned to Korea. Results from the interviews revealed 11 axial categories and 2 overarching selective categories related to the name reclamation process: (a) name reclamation was part of a larger identity development process; (b) factors that prevented or slowed the name reclamation process. Limitations and future areas of research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many adopted children face challenges at school and college which adversely affect their experience and attainment. Without effective post-adoption support, they are at an increased risk of being excluded from or opting out of education. While this has been confirmed by research, there has been less discussion of the problems children face and the services they find helpful. This is especially the case for those over the age of 16 (the statutory school leaving age in the UK). To explore this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five adopted young people aged between 16 and 19. A thematic analysis of their responses identified four factors that help them continue in post-16 education: (1) a positive self-identity; (2) supportive people; (3) supportive approaches; and (4) supportive systems. Participants identified the benefits of staff appreciating the needs of adopted children and the features that promote an 'adoption-friendly' ethos in schools and colleges. The implications of these observations for understanding the educational needs of adopted young people, practice development and future research are discussed. Attention is drawn to the importance of multi-agency work and the role of adopted young people in steering and co-producing effective support in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopted children are a vulnerable group that have often experienced multiple traumatic events such as maltreatment, neglect and the perpetuation of abuse. These early traumatic experiences can result in compromised resilience which impacts both psychological and biological development (Cicchetti & Banny, 2014). This study used the systemic model approach, method and technique to gain an understanding of the complexity of presentation and formulation being made (Harris & Burnham, 1985). It also expanded on an early intervention sports protocol, named fast feet forward, that was previously used with unaccompanied asylum‐seeking minors with significant results. The use of running as a bilateral stimulus resulted in a rise in VOC (validity of cognition) and a reduction in SUD (subjective units of distress) scores, both after a single session and after 12 sessions. The data reported from this study replicated the previous findings of Draper et al., 2020) and showed the benefits of using fast feet forward with adopted children. The results further evidence the potential efficacy of this protocol for adopted children displaying complex trauma and show promising results for future enquiry. Future research should aim to replicate these findings with a larger sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiences and the stories of adopted individuals cannot be understood apart from the social context that shapes them. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used as the aim of this study was to assess the impact of the adoption of dominant social discourse on adoptees. Four themes relating to the aims of the current research emerged from the data: (1) adoptees' deviant construction of themselves, (2) experiences of invalidation and marginalization, (3) rationalization of adoption, and (4) adoption-related un-acknowledged losses. This study's results show that participants' individualized and/or societal distressing experiences can be considered within the context of minority stress. For clinical and counseling purposes it is important to understand whether these minority identities result in extra social stresses as a result of their social stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: For decades, the temperaments of infants and small children have been a focus of studies in human development and been seen as a potential contributor to children's developmental patterns. However, less is known about the interplay between the temperamental characteristics of mothers and their children in the context of explaining variations in developmental outcomes. The aim of our study was to explore the associations—with or without genetic links—of the temperaments and psychological distress of mothers and the temperaments of children with behavioral problems in a group of internationally adopted children and their adoptive mothers and in a group of non-adopted children and their mothers. (2) Methods: Data (n = 170) were derived from the ongoing Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) follow-up study. The children included were under the age of 7 years; 74 were adopted internationally through legal agencies between October 2010 and December 2016, and the remaining 96 were non-adopted children living with their birth parents (biological group) recruited from day-care centers. We used Mary Rothbart's temperament questionnaires to assess temperament, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to obtain data on the children's behavioral/emotional problems and competencies, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to assess parental psychological distress. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, and written informed consent was obtained from the parents and the children themselves. (3) Results: The negative affectivities of both mothers and children were associated with the total CBCL and with both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors after adjusting for age, gender, and adoption status. Both relationships remained significant when tested simultaneously, suggesting additive effects. Maternal negative affect was associated with problem behavior irrespective of child extraversion/surgency. Child extraversion/surgency was associated with lower levels of all internalizing behavioral problems when adjusted for maternal sociability. Child negative affect was associated with all behavioral problem measures irrespective of maternal sociability or maternal psychological distress. Maternal distress was associated with child problem behaviors only in children with low extraversion/surgency. (4) Limitations: The sample size was relatively small, and the information was gathered solely with questionnaires. (5) Conclusions: The results of the study may be clinically significant. Child negative affect, maternal negative affect, and maternal experienced distress, combined with low child extraversion/surgency, may increase the risk of child problem behaviors in both adoptees and non-adoptees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of children involved in the child welfare system is viewed as a favorable outcome when family reconstitution is impossible, partially due to the relationship security afforded by long-term placement permanence. Recognition of the importance of secure caregiver-child relationships has informed the development of caregiving-oriented attachment-focused services, such as those provided by the Therapeutic Family Care Program (TFCP). The present study examines the trajectories of adopted children (n = 71) between 3.33 and 13.70 years of age at first assessment (M = 7.65, SD = 2.53) involved with TFCP. Children were assessed by their caregivers on a semiannual basis using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and the ACC+, with children receiving up to 9 assessments (n = 201, M = 2.57, SD = 1.83). We conducted growth curve analyses for children's total clinical scores, self-esteem, adaptive functioning, and attachment-specific clinical domains. Results suggest that children start with clinically significant psychopathology, with older children and females having more psychosocial and attachment-related difficulties initially. Males' psychosocial functioning was stable over time, whereas females improved significantly in all domains. We discuss implications for mental health services within child welfare and future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how Ethiopian adoptees and adoptive parents in Australia experience attachment to each other post-adoption. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Ethiopian adoptees and eight adoptive parents. Thematic analysis returned four themes, indicating that attachment experiences were affected by the following: age at adoption; separation anxiety and survival mechanisms; biological family access; and identity formation. The findings contribute to improved understanding of Ethiopian adoptees' attachment experiences in Australia, and highlight unmet needs surrounding post-adoption support, in particular, support relating to post-adoption attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on post–Roe v. Wade reality as it is imperative that social work educators and professionals become proficient in the realities and ethics of adoption. Topics include examines as legal abortion becomes increasingly unavailable in the United States, some anticipate that the number of domestic private adoptions will increase.

Adopted adults are presented in the psychological literature as being highly vulnerable to mental health issues. It is probable, therefore, that this vulnerability will affect many aspects of their lives. One such area is their romantic relationships but, to our knowledge, research on this is noticeably sparse, especially with regard to the significance for adoptees' partners. The objective of the present study was to fill this gap by: (1) comparing the psychological profiles of adoptees' versus non-adoptees' partners and exploring their representations of the marital relationship, and (2) investigating the links between the psychological and relational variables in these two groups. To achieve these goals, scales measuring attachment, mental health, dyadic coping and co-parenting were administered to 104 partners of adoptees and 104 partners of non-adoptees. Results showed that there was no difference between the two groups on any of the variables considered. However, a correlation analysis did reveal that dismissing attachment was more closely linked to co-parental conflicts among adoptees' partners: the more dismissive the non-adopted partner, the fewer the co-parental conflicts. This correlation comparison suggests that dismissing attachment might be a protective factor for co-parental conflicts with the adopted partner, which is in line with some previous studies related to the specificities of attachment among adopted adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This US study examined dissociation, rejection sensitivity and identity distress among adults who experienced adoption as a child and the relationship between these factors. Further, groups of adoptees recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and social media were compared to assess whether these two recruitment methods achieve similar results. Adopted adults (n = 389) and non-adopted adults (n = 151) completed an online survey. Significant differences were found between adopted and non-adopted groups on the measures of dissociation, rejection sensitivity and identity. Rejection sensitivity and dissociation were also found to be better predictors of identity problems than adoption status alone. Recruitment methods resulted in significant differences on measures. Implications for consideration in a clinical setting are discussed as well as potential areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on how adopted adults who have reunited with at least one birth family member experienced identity shifts related to their original birth certificates (OBCs). Framed by the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), 50 adopted adults discussed their experiences related to their OBCs and how their identities are connected to this symbol through three of the layers of CTI, the personal, enacted, and relational layers. Participants discussed the presence of an ambiguous and unsolvable identity that interpenetrated with their other identity layers. Findings extend CTI to include an additional layer for adoptees – phantom identity – which can explain the life adoptees would have lived had they not been adopted. This identity was salient for participants as it manifested in ways such as expressing frustration with obstacles in gaining access to their OBC and refocusing their professional life to support other adopted adults. Moreover, findings offer implications for the examination into current adoption record practices in the United States, additional state mutual consent registries, and increased access to adoption-competent counselors for adoptees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption is considered a lifelong process for those involved in it. In this vein, adoptees' lives seem to be impacted by their origins and every experience that occurred before their adoption. The aim of this study is to explore adult adoptees' experience with respect to their adoptive condition, communication about origins, and search for their origins. In this study, 11 adult adoptees took part, 10 women and one man aged between 18 and 26 years. Interviews were conducted to examine participants' experiences, which were subsequently analyzed following interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results showed that most of the participants experience an open communication about origins and adoption with their parents and their environment. However, participants pointed to the existence of some limits in such communication. Participants noted a similar experience with respect to search. Based on the results, future studies should focus on the study of adoption in different stages of adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of qualitative research conducted with 20 adoptees, specifically the experiences of four French adoptees from Romania, who discovered significant irregularities in their adoptions. In the form of four ethnographic cases followed by a discussion, it describes the adoptees' bewilderment at their pre-adoptive trajectories and discusses the absence of collective frameworks and narratives in France through which they could apprehend their individual trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the ultimate goal of adoption is to provide children a happy life in a stable family environment, our major concern is children's happiness and well-being after adoption. While similar previous studies focused on adjustment and developmental outcomes, little research has investigated adopted children's happiness and what factors affect it. Therefore, this study aims to examine the happiness of adopted children and identify factors contributing to variations in happiness. The research model was constructed based on ecological theory with the addition of adoption variables to determine whether adoption factors affect their happiness. The second wave data of the quantitative longitudinal investigation on the development of adopted children were used for the hierarchical regression analysis. Child characteristics (gender, age, and disability), adoption-related variables (older child adoption and child's feeling about being adopted), family (household income and relationship between parents and child), school (academic achievement and school adjustment), and community (environment) characteristics were entered into the model sequentially. The child's feelings about being adopted were significantly related to their happiness when this factor was first entered into the model. However, its significance disappeared once all variables were considered in the final model; in this case, only children's disability, parent–child relationship, and school adjustment were significantly related to their happiness. The findings of the study suggest that adopted children's relationships with family, friends, and teachers are more important to happiness than the adoption itself. The implications for social practice in adoption fields were discussed based on study results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way in which intercountry adoptees can elaborate on their past history is through travelling to their country of birth. This article explores the memories and experiences recalled by a group of adoptees who visited their homeland after being adopted as children by Italian families. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 12 and 40 years who visited their birth country between 2000 and 2013. In 2017–2018, they were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain retrospective recall of their experiences and feelings on return to Italy, and how their ethnic identity and psychological well-being had been affected by the trip. The results revealed that the adoptees' emotional experiences during the return visit significantly affected their feelings towards adoption itself and that it changed their sense of belonging both to Italy and the country where they were born. Most also perceived their return travel as a momentous occasion which increased their overall knowledge about their birth country and its culture. The results are significant for providing new information about how international adoptees incorporate their homeland culture into their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has two aims: to explore the experiences and impact of adoption among five adults (three males and two females, all over the age of 55) adopted from mother and baby homes in the UK and Ireland, and to establish each participant's state of mind (SOM) with regards to attachment using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan and Main, 1985–1996). It makes use of all information gained from the AAI by analysing the interview transcripts in two ways: (1) using the AAI scoring system (Main, Goldwyn and Hesse, 2003) to assess SOM; and (2) thematic analysis of the transcripts to produce an inductive set of themes. It was found that all participants had an insecure SOM with regards to attachment. For four out of the five participants, this was unresolved/disorganised, and the category 'preoccupied' was the most prevalent underlying three-way classification. Qualitative analysis of transcripts identified four overarching themes: (1) identity and belonging; (2) trauma; (3) 'silenced' coping; and (4) adverse parenting which reflected their experiences of adoption. The findings indicate that the participants were highly susceptible to trauma associated with loss. They also highlight the importance of suitable adoption placements and vetting of potential adopters. The clinical and research implications of the results and their contribution to the broader discussion of trauma related to adoption are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoptees are studied more as children than as adults. While there is nevertheless a large body of research on adopted adults, little of this has focused on the families they build. Adoptees' parenthood has been particularly neglected. The few studies conducted on this subject up to now all had serious methodological flaws, and were not interested in adoptees who either refuse to become parents or, at the other extreme, invest massively in parenthood. In the present study, our objective was therefore to better understand the experience and determinants of two specific attitudes toward parenthood among adoptees: refusal and massive investment. We carried out semistructured interviews with 13 adopted adults who held just such attitudes toward parenthood. The interview transcripts were submitted to a thematic analysis using QDA Miner 5 software. This analysis shed light on the experiences of adoptees who either refuse parenthood (satisfaction, parenting by proxy, views on child adoption) or invest massively in it (parenting style, desire for children, difficulties encountered), as well as on the determinants of these positions (impact of adoptee status, relationships with adoptive parents and with partners). These results enhance current understanding of the potential distress of adoptees regarding parenthood, as well as the challenges that this life stage can pose for them and their children. We discuss the theoretical and clinical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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