Perceived Child-Parent Relationships and Child Adjustment in Families with Both Adopted and Natural Children

Impact of Biological Children's Adjustment on Their Siblings Who Were Adopted From China

“…Westhues and Cohen (1997) compared two groups of intercountry adoptees in Canada (12-to 17-year-olds, n = 86; 18-to 25-year-olds, n = 48) with two groups of siblings who were the biological children of the adoptive families (12-to 17-year-olds, n = 28; 18-to 25-year-olds, n = 55). Unlike Ternay, Wilborn, and Day (1985), Westhues and Cohen (1997) found the adoptees to have poorer adjustment than the biological children. The difference in the ages of the adoptees in the two studies might be partially responsible for the discrepancies in the findings.…”

Predictors of Psychological Functioning and Adoption Experience in Adults Searching for Their Birthparents

“…Some studies have shown that the presence of non-adopted siblings in the adoptive family increases the risk for behavioral and psychological problems in adopted children, while the presence of adopted siblings decreases such a risk (Barth & Brooks, 1997;Howe, 1997). Other studies, however, either found no effect of family composition on the functioning of children and adolescents who were adopted (Brodzinsky & Brodzinsky, 1992), or found that adopted children in families with adopted and non-adopted children had higher adjustment scores than comparable children in families with adopted children only (Ternay, Wilborn, & Day, 1985). Research on the adoption of older children has also failed to find a consistent relationship between family composition and adoption disruption (Festinger, 1990).…”

Using Integrative Play Therapy with Adoptive Families to Treat Reactive Attachment Disorder

“…Kirk (1984) and Smith and Howard (1999) both suggest adoptive families need to accept that there are some differences between adoptive families and their biological counterparts. Ternay, Wilborn and Day (1985) indicate that parentchild relationships are different and need some special consideration in "mixed" families-where both adoptive children and biological offspring coincide in the same family and household, than for homes where only adopted children reside (although they also note some positive effects on both sets of children in mixed adoptive families). Weir (2001) suggests that the process is more multidimensional and complex than Kirk (1984) and others have suggested, but clearly Aaron was struggling with differences in physical appearance, behavior, and discipline patterns between himself and his siblings.…”