Children in Adoptive Families: Overview and Update

Nickman, Steven L.; Rosenfeld, Alvin A.; Fine, Paul; MacIntyre, James C.; Pilowsky, Daniel J.; Howe, Ruth-Arlene W.; Derdeyn, Andre P.; Gonzales, Mayu Bonoan; Forsythe, Linda; Sveda, Sally A.

doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000174463.60987.69

Cited by 83 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The adopted adolescents are largely Asian, which is representative of adoptions through large adoption agencies in Minnesota at the time of recruitment but, again, does not reflect the ethnic composition of the United States. In addition, findings obtained from samples of adopted adolescents may not generalize to other populations because of the effect of adoption on mental health outcomes (30,36). Third, research on evocative effects of youth psychopathology on parental psychopathology (37) suggests that the relationship between depression in parents and psychopathology in children is to some extent reciprocal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Adoption Study of Parental Depression as an Environmental Liability for Adolescent Depression and Childhood Disruptive Disorders

Tully¹,

Iacono²,

McGue³

2008

AJP

205

152

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Objective-The authors used an adoption study design to investigate environmental influences on risk for psychopathology in adolescents with depressed parents.Method-Participants were 568 adopted adolescents ascertained through large adoption agencies, 416 nonadopted adolescents ascertained through birth records, and their parents. Clinical interviews with parents and adolescents were used to determine lifetime DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of major depressive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance use disorders in adolescents and major depression in mothers and fathers. Effects of parental depression (either parent with major depression, maternal major depression, and paternal major depression) on adolescent psychopathology were tested in nonadopted and adopted adolescents separately, and interactive effects of parental depression and adoption status were tested.Results-Either parent having major depression and a mother having major depression were associated with a significantly greater risk for major depression and disruptive behavior disorders in both nonadopted and adopted adolescents. Paternal depression did not have a main effect on any psychiatric disorder in adolescents and, with one exception (ADHD in adopted adolescents), did not predict significantly greater likelihoods of disorders in either nonadopted or adopted adolescents.Conclusions-Maternal depression was an environmental liability for lifetime diagnoses of major depression and disruptive disorders in adolescents. Paternal depression was not associated with an increased risk for psychopathology in adolescents.Compared with children of nondepressed parents, children of depressed parents have a higher risk for depression (1) as well as for attention problems, behavior management problems, and conduct disorder (2-5). While there has been considerable research on mechanisms of risk in these families, no study has provided a direct test of the extent to which there is an environmental effect of parental major depressive disorder (that is, separate from genetic influences) on psychopathology in children. In this study, we investigated the influence of environmental factors on risk for psychopathology in adopted and nonadopted adolescents of depressed parents.Most empirically supported models of risk in families of depressed parents include factors that are conceptualized as environmental variables, such as harsh parenting and family conflict (6). Many of these family "environment" variables, however, are genetically influenced (7,8) Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Tully, Department of Psychology, N218 Elliott Hall, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Rd., Minneapolis, MN 55455; and share common genetic influences with psychopathology in adolescents (9,10)). For example, family conflict is characteristic of families with depressed parents (11) and is associated with adolescent depression (12,13). Rice and colleagues (14) found that family conflict ha...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Adoption Study of Parental Depression as an Environmental Liability for Adolescent Depression and Childhood Disruptive Disorders

Tully¹,

Iacono²,

McGue³

2008

AJP

205

152

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most of the adoption literature is focused on the child's characteristics as predictors of parenting stress, suggesting that the older the child, the higher the parenting stress, in relation to the child's longer exposure to disadvantageous situations (Goldberg and Smith 2014;Nickman et al 2005). Many studies have documented that later placement and prolonged institutionalisation are associated with more negative outcomes for children in all the main areas of development (Fox et al 2011;Miller et al 2009;Nelson et al 2007), indicating the critical importance of considering these variables in association with parenting stress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Parenting Stress During Early Adoptive Parenthood

et al. 2017

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Parenting stress has a crucial influence on the parent-child relationship, the functioning of the family, and the development of children. Few studies have examined parenting stress in adoptive families during early parenthood, and fewer still have considered this issue in association with the quality of both couple and social relationships. The current study was intended to investigate predictors of parenting stress in a community sample of 56 adoptive parents from Italy, for a total of 112 participants. Our goals were to: 1) evaluate parenting stress among adoptive parents during the first postadoption year, and 2) identify whether and to what extent parenting stress can be predicted by certain characteristics of the child (gender, age at adoption, years of institutionalisation, presence/absence of disease on arrival, emotional and behavioural difficulties), of parents' individual well-being (e.g., the presence of depressive symptoms), of relationships within the couple (sexual satisfaction, tenderness between partners, quarrelling) and with the social context (real and potential social support). In the analyses parents' gender effect and intercorrelations between the partners were taken into account. Results of multiple regression analysis and relative weight analysis highlighted the great importance of children's age at adoption and their emotional and behavioural difficulties in predicting both mothers' and fathers' stress, but also the contribution of the couple relationship quality as a protective factor that could reduce the level of parenting stress.

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“…6 Review articles have described the literature regarding the health and development of adopted children. 7,8 Although most adopted children are healthy, adopted children have been shown to be at elevated risk for adjustment problems, externalizing behaviors, conduct disorders, and attachment disorders. A recent metaanalysis of studies regarding behavioral problems and mental health referrals suggested that adopted children had somewhat more behavior problems but were substantially overrepresented beyond their higher levels of need in their use of mental health services.…”

Section: The Health Of Adopted Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health and Well-being of Adopted Children

2007

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OBJECTIVE. We compared the health and well-being of adopted and biological children and examined whether observed differences may be a result of differences between these 2 groups in demographic characteristics and special health care needs. METHODS. The 2003 National Survey of Children's Health was funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, and was conducted as a module of the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nationally representative sample consisted of 102 353 children, including 2903 adopted children. We compared estimates for 31 indicators of health and well-being for adopted and biological children and present adjusted estimates that control for differences in demographic characteristics and special health care needs prevalence. RESULTS. Adopted children are more likely than biological children to have special health care needs, current moderate or severe health problems, learning disability, developmental delay or physical impairment, and other mental health difficulties. However, adopted children are more likely than biological children to have had a preventive medical visit or a combination of preventive medical and dental visits during the previous year, to receive needed mental health care, and to receive care in a medical home; they are more likely to have consistent health insurance coverage, to be read to daily, or to live in neighborhoods that are supportive, and they are less likely to live in households in which someone smokes. These differences between adopted and biological children remain statistically significant even after adjustments for differences in demographic characteristics and the prevalence of special health care needs. CONCLUSION. The results suggest that, although adopted children may have poorer health than biological children, their parents may be doing more to ensure that they have needed health care and supportive environments.

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Children in Adoptive Families: Overview and Update

Cited by 83 publications

References 37 publications

An Adoption Study of Parental Depression as an Environmental Liability for Adolescent Depression and Childhood Disruptive Disorders

An Adoption Study of Parental Depression as an Environmental Liability for Adolescent Depression and Childhood Disruptive Disorders

Predictors of Parenting Stress During Early Adoptive Parenthood

The Health and Well-being of Adopted Children

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