Post-Adoption Help-Seeking in Portugal: A Comprehensive Study on Parental Difficulties and Help-Seeking Behaviors and Perceptions

Abstract

Effective psychological parenting interventions delivered to adoptive parents may prevent serious adjustment difficulties and promote a healthy functioning; however, less is known about adoptive parents’ specific parental difficulties and help-seeking behaviors and perceptions, the understanding of which is deemed necessary to design well-informed interventions. This study aimed to describe parental difficulties, help-seeking behaviors, satisfaction with, and perceived barriers to seek, professional help, and acceptability of psychological parenting interventions among Portuguese adoptive parents. Comparisons with biological parents (Study 1) and between adoptive parents that requested adoption-specialized and non-specialized support (i.e., adoption-specialized vs. non-specialized help-seekers) (Study 2) were explored. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. Participants were 471 adoptive and 552 biological parents of children aged under 18 years who were recruited through schools, adoption agencies, and social networks. They completed measures assessing parental difficulties, help-seeking behaviors, satisfaction with, and perceived barriers to seek, professional help, and acceptability of psychological parenting interventions. Comparison tests between the study groups, Pearson’s correlations, analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) and multivariate logistic regressions (MLR) were performed. Parents’ well-being and normative parenting challenges were the most frequent difficulties in both groups, but only associated with adoptive parents’ help-seeking. Although difficulties related to a child’s problems/parent–child relationship were more frequent among adoptive parents, adoption-related difficulties were rarely reported. Adoptive parents sought professional help more frequently, regardless of parental difficulties. Knowledge-related barriers to seeking help were the most frequent among adoptive parents. Adoption non-specialized help was less satisfactory. Acceptability of psychological parenting interventions was high, but dependent on parental difficulties. Implications for post-adoption services’ development are discussed.

Adoptive parents’ satisfaction with child and adolescent mental services and their mental health concerns over time: A question of fit?

“…Thus, while formal psychiatric diagnoses typically shape how statutory mental health services are organised, when inquiring of parental concerns, it may be helpful to use descriptions of problems and concerns rather than suggestions of frank psychiatric disorders. For example, a recent study of adopted parents in Portugal using descriptive rather than formal psychiatric terms reported a wide range of concerns, of similar form to those reported by birth families (Alves et al, 2022). Similar wide-ranging descriptions of concerns have also been found in UK samples (Meakings et al, 2018) and US samples (Houston & Kramer, 2008; Waid & Alewine, 2018).…”

“…Research has also indicated that there may be different levels of need at different points in the adoption journey, but also that the research messages can vary by adoption context. For example, parents in Portugal identified the first few years as especially difficult (Alves et al, 2022) contrasting with research in the US which found needs increased over time (e.g., Waid & Alewine, 2018).…”

“…Post-adoption support services are important for promoting child well-being, family functioning and the stability of the placement (Selwyn et al, 2014). However, not enough is known about the kinds of services adoptive parents want or what their concerns are (Alves et al, 2022). What data there is suggests wide ranging concerns partly due to the broad remit of what is included under post-adoption support (potentially covering financial help, social care and educational involvement as well as help for general or specific mental health issues) but also due to significant variations in studies.…”

Exploring the association between adoptive parents’ attachment orientations and adoptees’ emotional and behavioral difficulties: The role of parents’ self-compassion and mindful parenting

“…Adoptive parents are faced not only with normative challenges of parenthood but also with unique adoption-related ones (e.g., infertility; birth child losses; late parenthood; abrupt transition to parenthood, child's preexisting behavioral/emotional di culties; stigma regarding adoption; unmet children's expectations) (e.g., Alves et al, 2022;Foli et al, 2017;McKay et al, 2010;Santos-Nunes et al, 2020).…”

“…However, as depicted in literature, when compared with non-adoptive ones, adoptive parents more easily display irritation, anger, or frustration towards children's negative behavior (Solomon & Poirier, 2005) and more frequently report parent-child relationship problems and associated children's emotional and behavioral di culties (Alves et al, 2022). Due to the unique hardships and stress factors adoptive parents go through preplacement, nurturing adopted children, with a challenging past of their own, in a postplacement setting shaped by these circumstances, can be very psychologically demanding (Chorão et al, 2022;Foli et al, 2017).…”