Children after adoption: Exploring their psychological needs

DeJong, Margaret; Hodges, Jill; Malik, Osman

doi:10.1177/1359104515617519

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…These results are consistent with Ford and colleagues' (2007) finding that fewer than one in ten looked after children showed good psychological adjustment (on all areas of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), compared with one in two living in private households. Although not directly comparable, features such as difficulties in mood regulation appear similar to that reported recently in a study of adopted children after placement (DeJong, 2014).…”

Section: Adaptation and Well-beingsupporting

confidence: 69%

‘What happened next’: a study of outcomes for maltreated children following care proceedings

Mulcahy

Badger

Wright

et al. 2014

Adoption & Fostering

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This is the first report from a study of outcomes for 114 children from 49 families assessed in an expert multi-disciplinary service during care proceedings. The study investigated the extent of children's adaptation following judicial decisions made in the proceedings and what factors might be involved in changes in the children's adaptation and well-being. We also aimed to investigate the reliability of the expert placement and treatment recommendations made to the court.The original assessment reports for the court were independently coded using a comprehensive child adaptation measure (Target and Fonagy, 1992). At follow-up, mean time of 26 months after their assessment, the researchers re-employed the child adaptation measure in semi-structured interviews with carers in birth, adoptive, foster and kinship placements. The data were independently coded and the results compared with the child's original score as a measure of change in adaptation post proceedings in their substitute family or birth family. Researchers also collected information about the children's placement(s) and any support or treatment received.The study found that children's well-being significantly improved by an average of +6.7 points between initial assessment (M ¼ 68.13; SD ¼ 9.86) and follow-up (M ¼ 74.82; SD ¼ 7.84), (t (67) ¼ À5.0, p < .001, d ¼ 0.76). Children whose global adjustment scores were clinically concerning at the time of assessment hardly improved their scores (.44), compared to children whose global adjustment scores were within the normal range at the time of assessment. Downloaded from Interestingly, the majority (88%) of expert placement recommendations had been accepted and implemented. However, less than 50% of the children and only 30% of parents received the support and treatment recommended in the experts' reports in the proceedings. The implications for both policy and practice in working with children and their families during and after care proceedings are explored.

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Section: Adaptation and Well-beingsupporting

confidence: 69%

‘What happened next’: a study of outcomes for maltreated children following care proceedings

Mulcahy

Badger

Wright

et al. 2014

Adoption & Fostering

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“…Children adopted from care seem particularly at risk of experiencing emotional, behavioral, and mental health problems (Adoption UK, 2019;Anthony et al, 2019;DeJong et al, 2016;Simmel, Barth, & Brooks, 2007;Tarren-Sweeney, 2017;Tarren-Sweeney & Hazell, 2006). Adopted children can have difficulties in attachment relationships with their adoptive parents and in relating to peers (Hodges et al, 2005;Román et al, 2012;Rushton & Dance, 2006;Van den Dries et al, 2009).…”

Section: The Outcomes Of Adoption For Children In Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children who are adopted at older ages may have had greater exposure to abuse and neglect, and such maltreatment can have far-reaching developmental consequences (Egeland et al, 1983;Rutter, 2005). Childhood maltreatment has been linked to a broad variety of neurological, behavioral, emotional, health, and cognitive difficulties in looked after and adopted children (DeJong et al, 2016;Hornfeck et al, 2019;Rushton & Dance, 2006;Tarren-Sweeney, 2017). The preferential rejection of one child in a sibling group is a further risk factor for some adoptees (Dance et al, 2002;Rushton & Dance, 2006).…”

Section: The Outcomes Of Adoption For Children In Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring links between early adversities and later outcomes for children adopted from care: Implications for planning post adoption support

Neil

Morciano

Young

et al. 2020

Developmental Child Welfare

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This study explored how child maltreatment, alongside a range of other variables, predicted adverse outcomes for children adopted from the foster care system in England. The participants were 319 adoptive parents who completed an in-depth online survey about their most recently adopted child. The mean age of children at placement for adoption was 28 months (range 0–11 years) and their ages at the time of the survey ranged from 0 years to 17 years (mean = 7 years). Detailed information was collected about children’s backgrounds, including their experiences in the birth family and the care system before adoption. Adoptive parents also reported on how well children were getting on in a range of areas of functioning and how well they felt the adoption was going overall. Child maltreatment and child adverse outcomes were modeled as two factors in a latent factor structural equation model. The relationship between these two factors was explored alongside a range of covariates. Associated with worse outcomes for children were potentially heritable factors (parental learning disability), the pre-birth environment (exposure to drugs or alcohol in utero) and the period between birth and moving to the adoptive family (higher levels of maltreatment, spending more than a year in care, having two or more foster placements). The child’s distress on moving from the foster home to the adoptive family was also highly significant in linking to poorer outcomes, suggesting the detrimental effect of poorly managed transitions. Implications for child welfare practices before and after adoption are discussed.

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“…Both measures were developed in Australia within a large LAC population to assess the frequency and severity of emotional and behavioural difficulties theoretically underpinned by a developmental trauma framework. The measures have since been validated in a Dutch population (Goemans, Tarren-'They don't meet the stereotypes in the boxes…' Accepted for publication in Adoption andFostering March, 2019 children (DeJong, Hodges &Malik, 2016;.…”

Section: The Role Of Psychometric Measures In Lacmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘They don’t meet the stereotypes in the boxes…’: Foster carers’ and clinicians’ views on the utility of psychometric tools in the mental health assessment of looked after children

Frogley

John

Denton

et al. 2019

Adoption & Fostering

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Background: Looked-after children (LAC) frequently experience greater mental health challenges than the general child population. There has been a call for greater focus on early preventative interventions and priority access to specialist mental health support for this population. Brief mental health screening tools often provide the gateway to services and yet there is a lack of suitable assessment tools available for LAC. The current study is the first to explore the perspectives of foster carers and CAMHS clinicians' in relation to the use of two brief screening tools; the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Brief Assessment Checklists (BAC's). Method: Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured telephone interviews and face-toface focus groups with female foster carers (N=13) and clinicians working in a CAMHS setting (N=9). Results: Thematic analyses generated six themes which were organised into three superordinate themes centred around: 1) relevance to LAC, 2) using measures to inform care planning and; 3) current problems when using psychometric measures within the LAC population. Foster carers and clinicians emphasised the need for a comprehensive understanding of LAC given the complexity of their difficulties. There was acknowledgement that psychometric measures could facilitate and contribute to this by highlighting difficulties, providing accurate feedback to carers and clinicians, and enabling access to support. However, both groups seldom felt that current measures were nuanced enough to adequately capture the needs of LAC. Conclusion: Screening tools play a crucial role in identifying the mental health needs of LAC and facilitating access to services. Further research is needed to establish the ability of such measures to increase the sensitivity of the complex needs' assessment of LAC. A number of 'They don't meet the stereotypes in the boxes…' Accepted for publication in Adoption and Fostering March, 2019 3 clinical recommendations are also discussed in relation to the assessment of mental health in the LAC population. Keywords: looked after children, mental health, assessment, qualitative methods 'They don't meet the stereotypes in the boxes…' Accepted for publication in Adoption and Fostering March, 2019 meta-analysis which included studies from five different Western countries (Bronsard et al., 2016). LAC and care leavers are also at higher risk of self-harm as well as both attempted and completed suicide (Hjern, Vinnerljung & Lindblad, 2004; Vinnerljung, Hjern & Lindblad, 2006). Alongside this, several studies have highlighted the long-term impact that early life trauma (e.g. maltreatment) has on brain development, physical well-being and mental health (D'Andrea, Ford, Stolbach, Spinazzola & van der Kolk, 2012). Research has demonstrated that children who have been exposed to maltreatment are at greater risk for complex mental health presentations often spanning several diagnostic criteria (D'Andrea et al, 2012). In the 'They don't meet the stereotypes in the boxes…'...

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Children after adoption: Exploring their psychological needs

Cited by 27 publications

References 36 publications

‘What happened next’: a study of outcomes for maltreated children following care proceedings

‘What happened next’: a study of outcomes for maltreated children following care proceedings

Exploring links between early adversities and later outcomes for children adopted from care: Implications for planning post adoption support

‘They don’t meet the stereotypes in the boxes…’: Foster carers’ and clinicians’ views on the utility of psychometric tools in the mental health assessment of looked after children

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