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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]

We tested whether adoptive parenting played a role in the association between pre-adoption experiences and children's adaptive (responsiveness) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, attention and sleep problems) behavioral adjustment over time. Ten-year-old girls, adopted at 13 months from institutional care (n = 50) or foster care (n = 42) in China to the Netherlands, participated 2 months (Time 1, N = 92), 6 months (Time 2, N = 92), and 9 years after adoption (Time 3, N = 87). At Times 1 and 2, the adoptees showed significantly fewer behavioral problems in many areas than non-adopted youth, with medium to large effect sizes. At Time 3, the adoptees showed similar rates of behavioral problems as non-adopted youth, with the exception of somewhat elevated levels of internalizing problems. Pre-adoption experiences were not associated with their behavioral adjustment. Furthermore, adoptive parenting did not moderate the association between pre-adoption experiences and behavioral adjustment over time. Nevertheless, the finding that the adoptees generally did not show above-average levels of behavioral problems illustrates that adoption had a positive impact on their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most adopted women from China make efforts to search for their cultural or family origins and a minority of them visit their country of birth. • In international adoptions from China, adoptive, cultural, and ethnoracial identities are intertwined. The most common profile is integrated adoptive identity, Spanish cultural identity, and acceptance of physical traits. • By integrating the search for origins and identity of these women, three distinct groups were identified: constructed, controversial and unexplored origin and identity. • Potential risk factors might require professional attention, such as the perception of adoption as an act of abandonment, desire to disengage with China or rejection of physical traits. The emerging adulthood of women adopted from China is understudied. This study aims to explore the search for origins and the adoptative and cultural identity among these girls, integrating these dimensions. A qualitative study based on grounded theory was conducted. A total of 31 young women (M age = 21.4) participated in individual interviews. Regarding the search for origins, four categories emerged: no interest in the search for origins, initiation of the search for origins, the search for cultural origins and the search for family origins. Specifically, three-quarters of the sample initiated some form of search for family or cultural origins, with a particular emphasis on bonding with other adopted Asian girls. With respect to identity, the main categories were the preadoptive history, adoptive identity, cultural identity and ethnoracial identity. Some subcategories emerged such as the dichotomy between perceiving adoption as an act of love versus abandonment, and acceptance versus rejection of physical traits. It was more common to find girls with integrated adoptive identity and a Spanish cultural identity. Regarding the relationship between searches for origins and identity, we identified three groups, unexplored, controversial and constructed identity and origins, which ranged from no interest in the search for origins and desire for disengagement from China to the active search for origins, integrated adoptive identity or accepted ethnoracial identity. In conclusion, these results contribute to a comprehensive framework on the processes of origin search and identity construction during emerging adulthood. Significant topics emerge that should be addresses in future studies concerning the well-being of these women, such as the interpretation of adoption as abandonment or the desire for disengage from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed methods study examined the nature of adoption and racial microaggressions and their relations with age and community diversity among 42 Chinese transracial adoptees ages 5–9. Using microaggression typologies by Baden and Sue et al., we found that children must often navigate multiple messages within a single microaggression incident. Although experience and awareness of microaggressions did not differ among children by community diversity, experience of racial microaggression incidents was positively associated with age. Given that young children experience microaggressions, preparation for bias should be considered for children at young ages in a developmentally appropriate manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined academic achievement among adopted and nonadopted children in Norway. The adopted group included children adopted from China, South Korea, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Colombia. The study also included a control group of nonadopted classmates with same gender and age. The findings show no significant differences in academic achievement between adopted and nonadopted in either first or third grade, but a greater variety in adopted children's performance. Adopted children received more special education and more support from parents than nonadopted classmates did. Language skills and hyperactive behavior made a significant contribution in explaining the variance in academic achievement among adopted children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents raising children adopted from a different racial/ethnic group usually engage in cultural socialization—providing activities in adoptees' birth culture—hoping to instill pride and help adoptees develop a positive identity. Adoptive parents engage in a wide variety of socialization activities, yet adult adoptees have reported not having deep enough exposure from their parents. The present study explored the depth of cultural socialization in transracial adoptive families. Informed by Pinderhughes' Ethnic‐Racial Socialization model, this study developed a continuum examining the depth in cultural socialization with three indicators: (1) the depth of cultural activities, (2) parents' motivation for cultural socialization, and (3) parental cultural attitudes. Qualitative analyses of 41 White parents raising children adopted from China found that parents' motivation and acknowledgement of cultural differences reflected deep appreciation of adoptees' birth culture, however, activities they provided were not as deep. Activities that facilitated close relationships with people who shared adoptees' background in a natural context appeared to provide the deepest cultural connection. Despite limitations, the study demonstrated that the depth continuum was able to capture variations and nuances in cultural socialization. Suggestions for future research and recommendation for practice were also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore relationships among adoption, individual, and family variables on false belief performance of children adopted internationally (CAI). Method: Using a quasiexperimental design, thirty-five 4-year-old children adopted from Asian and Eastern European countries before age 2 years were compared with a U.S. group of 33 nonadopted 4-year-old children on a standardized English-language measure, 3 false belief tasks, and a go/no-go inhibition measure. Results: The adopted group differed significantly from the U.S. nonadopted group in expressive language and false belief performance. For the adopted group, inhibition measures were significantly correlated with core language scores. Core language scores and number of older siblings predicted false belief performance. Conclusions: Similar to children who are not adopted, language competence and living with older siblings positively influenced social understanding in CAI. Because CAI experience interrupted language acquisition and live with fewer older siblings, they are at risk of having weaker language competence and social understanding in their adopted language. When working with CAI, practitioners should assess social communication, language competence, and inhibition skills. They should assist adoptive families in providing socially mentored opportunities for their children to observe and interact with older children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting has been conceptualized to mediate or moderate children's adaptation to family stress. Our study expanded the literature to determine, within the adoptive context, how non-child-related family stress (NCR-family stress; e.g., parent's problems at work) and parenting styles were related to internalizing and externalizing problems in school-age girls adopted from China. Using data from the third wave of a longitudinal study, 651 school-age girls were identified for the current analysis. On average, the girls were 9.3 years old ( SD = 2.7) and were adopted at 15.6 months ( SD = 13.8). Data on NCR-family stress, parenting styles and child behavior problems were collected from the adoptive mothers using the social problem questionnaire, parenting styles and dimensions questions, and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18), respectively. After controlling for age at adoption, age, the adoptive mother's education level, household income, and the girls' corresponding behavior problems from the second wave of data (2 years prior), we found that that the association between NCR-family stress and the adopted Chinese girls' internalizing problems and externalizing problems was mediated by authoritarian parenting and moderated by authoritative parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study advances the extant literature on how internal boundary management processes (naming, discussing, narrating, ritualizing) impact identity by demonstrating how naming fosters identity in the context of international adoption. The study examined: (a) parental treatment of their children's birth country names in the naming process and (b) parental motives for various naming forms (i.e., placement of the child's birth culture name within the full name). Focus groups were conducted with 32 U.S. White American parents with an adopted child from either China or Vietnam. Results present a catalog of four international adoptee naming forms, with parents choosing to retain, alter, create a new, or exclude the birth culture name. Parents were found to appeal to two primary motivations—identity and pragmatism—to justify and explain these differing naming forms. This study found that naming promoted three identity source domains: family identity, ethnic identity, and individual identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study seeks to extend previous research on family stress, parenting, and child adjustment to families with adopted Chinese children. In doing so, we also seek to strengthen inferences regarding the experiential underpinnings of previously obtained relationships among these variables by determining if they also occur in families where parents and children are not biologically related. Participants were families of 133 preschool-age adopted Chinese girls (M age =5.2 years, SD =0.7; M ageatadoption =12.8 months, SD =4.1). Data on family stress, parenting styles, and children''s behavioral adjustment were collected from the adoptive mothers with the Social Problem Questionnaire (SPQ), Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) respectively. Results showed that adoptive mothers reported relatively mild family stress, frequent authoritative parenting, and few behavior problems in their children. Nonetheless, family stress, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles positively correlated with children''s behavioral problems. Finally, authoritarian parenting mediated the effect of non-child-related family stress (NCR-stress) on the adopted Chinese girls’ CBCL internalizing and overall problems, even after controlling for corresponding CBCL scores from 2 years earlier. Our results showed that the overall pattern of relationships found in non-adoptive families is also seen in families with adopted Chinese children. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined the processes and predictors of change in maternal ratings of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and attachment security in 70 infant girls adopted from China at a mean age of 13.5 months. These children’s mental and language development were also directly assessed. The adopted children were assessed within the first month of adoption and again six, 12 and 24 months later. Comparisons were made with 43 girls of similar age and family background. Results indicated that from six months postadoption onward, adopted children exhibited a rapid increase in internalizing symptoms, especially in emotion reactivity. Adopted children initially formed attachment rapidly. Growth in attachment gradually slowed down over time. Individual differences that emerged in the rate of attachment growth from six months postadoption were related to mental ability in both groups. The results point to the effects of potential risk factors on the processes of change, at least in the two years following adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Adopted Chinese youth scored more favorably on BASC-3 than non-adopted Chinese youth. • Adopted Chinese youth scored more favorably on BASC-3 than non-adopted US youth. • High adoptive family SES benefited adopted youth adjustment. • Testing measurement invariance is important for cross-cultural comparison. In this paper, we examined if high SES families had an effect on youth's adjustment by comparing 226 internationally adopted female Chinese youth who experienced pre-adoption institutionalization with 1059 non-adopted Chinese peers living in China, as well as 209 non-adopted American peers. On average, the adopted youth's families had a higher SES status than the two comparison groups. Survey data on behavioral problems and prosocial adjustment were collected with the third edition of the Behavioral Assessment for Children (BASC-3). We found the adopted Chinese youth outperformed their Chinese counterparts in all comparisons and their US counterparts in most comparisons. These results offer some evidence that a high family SES may compensate for the adoption-related risks such as earlier institutionalization. Possible mechanisms underlying the benefit of high SES were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]