Uncertainty management and adoptees’ ambiguous loss of their birth parents

Powell, Kimberly; Afifi, Tamara D.

doi:10.1177/0265407505049325

Cited by 64 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Although relational uncertainty has been primarily applied to romantic relationships (see, for example, Knobloch & Carpenter-Theune, 2004;Knobloch & Solomon, 1999;Knobloch, Solomon, & Cruz, 2001), recent research has found relational uncertainty to be a salient experience of stepchildren (Afifi & Schrodt, 2003;, siblings (Bevan, Stetzenbach, Batson, & Bullo, 2006;Floyd, 1997), and adult adoptees (Powell & Afifi, 2005). Viewed as a set, these findings demonstrate that relational uncertainty is a common experience within family relationships.…”

Section: Relational Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Furthermore, issues of relational uncertainty experienced within family relationships such as doubts experienced by adult adoptees (Powell & Afifi, 2005) and stepchildren are markedly different from the issues of relational uncertainty experienced in romantic relationships. In short, it appears that sources of relational uncertainty are evident in a variety of relationships, but the content of relational uncertainty varies by context.…”

Section: Relational Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Parent-in-Law Privacy Management: An Examination of the Links Among Relational Uncertainty, Topic Avoidance, In-Group Status, and In-Law Satisfaction

Mikucki‐Enyart

2011

Journal of Family Communication

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The present study used dual reasoning from communication privacy management theory and relational uncertainty to investigate how parents-in-law protected privacy boundaries within the parentand child-in-law dyad. More specifically, the links among relational uncertainty, topic avoidance, family in-group status, and satisfaction were explored. Study 1 (N = 59) provided descriptive data on categories of parent-in-law relational uncertainty. These categories generated a measure of parent-in-law relational uncertainty employed in Study 2 (N = 104). Findings from Study 2 revealed intriguing interactions among family in-group status, relational uncertainty, and topic avoidance. In addition, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with family in-group status and parent-in-law satisfaction.

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Section: Relational Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Relational Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 95%

Parent-in-Law Privacy Management: An Examination of the Links Among Relational Uncertainty, Topic Avoidance, In-Group Status, and In-Law Satisfaction

Mikucki‐Enyart

2011

Journal of Family Communication

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“…As transracial adoptees grow older, Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard M. Lee Lee & Quintana, 2005). At the same time, they may begin to experience feelings of loss of birth culture and family history and the growing awareness of racism and discrimination in their everyday lives (Meier, 1999;Powell & Affi, 2005). This feeling of loss, in turn, has been found to be associated with greater depressive symptoms and lower self-worth among domestically and internationally adopted preadolescents (Smith & Brodzinsky, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural socialization in families with internationally adopted children.

Lee¹,

Grotevant²,

Hellerstedt³

et al. 2006

Journal of Family Psychology

156

195

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Cultural socialization attitudes, beliefs, and parenting behaviors were examined in families with internationally adopted children. The authors hypothesized that parents with lower color-blind racial attitudes would be more likely to engage in enculturation and racialization parenting behaviors because they hold stronger beliefs in the value and importance of cultural socialization. Using data from the Minnesota International Adoption Project, the results support this mediation model of cultural socialization. Individual variations in cultural socialization also are discussed in terms of child development and shifting adoption attitudes and practices.Keywords cultural socialization; international adoption; parenting; racial attitudes; transracial International adoption is becoming an increasingly popular means to form a family in the United States. Since 1971, over 330,000 children have been adopted from other countries, and there has been a threefold increase in the annual rate of international adoption, from 7,093 children in 1990 to 22,884 children in 2004 (U.S. Department of State, 2005). The increase in international adoption is attributed to war, poverty, and the lack of social welfare in sending countries and, in the United States, to increased infertility rates, perceived difficulties associated with domestic adoption, preference to adopt infants rather than older children, and a disinclination toward foster care adoption (R. M. Lee, 2003). Today, children-mostly infants and toddlers-are adopted annually from over 100 countries, with approximately 90% of children adopted from just 20 countries and the majority from China, Russia, South Korea, and Guatemala.International adoption also reflects a larger, growing trend toward multiracial and multiethnic families, who face unique challenges in the upbringing of children of different ethnic and racial heritages. Research suggests that same-race and transracially adopted children begin to become aware of racial differences, as well as their adoptive status, as early as 4-5 years of age (Brodzinsky, Singer, & Braff, 1984;Huh & Reid, 2000). As transracial adoptees grow older, Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard M. Lee Lee & Quintana, 2005). At the same time, they may begin to experience feelings of loss of birth culture and family history and the growing awareness of racism and discrimination in their everyday lives (Meier, 1999;Powell & Affi, 2005). This feeling of loss, in turn, has been found to be associated with greater depressive symptoms and lower self-worth among domestically and internationally adopted preadolescents (Smith & Brodzinsky, 2002). Similarly, Cederblad, Höök, Irhammer, and Mercke (1999) reported that uncertainty about one's ethnic identity and perceived discrimination are related to greater psychological distress and lower self-esteem among international adoptees. Adoptive parents, most of whom are White and of European descent, likewise are confronted with decisions about when and how to appropri...

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“…Only a small percentage of adoptees actively try to resolve this uncertainty by searching for their birth parents (Warner-Colaner & Kranstuber, 2010). Although the search for birth parents may be expected to lessen the degree of uncertainty experienced by adoptees, research by Powell and Afifi (2005) reported that levels of uncertainty and ambiguity actually increased with the active search for birth parents. Another challenge that adoptees' must face is the experience of living in their birth country.…”

Section: Adoption and Ambiguous Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%