Adoptive Families Project

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed research is to study the adjustment outcomes of internationally adopted (IA) children and their families. Current research indicates that IA children may be at risk for developmental, medical, and behavioral difficulties. The reciprocal influences of child and family factors on outcomes have been understudied. This project proposes to study family and child adjustment in international adoption through a series of written surveys that adoptive parents will complete at four time points. Families have been recruited through agencies specializing in international adoptions. Time 0 data are collected just prior to the time that families first travel to meet their perspective child. These questions focus on pre-adoptive family adaptation, including marital satisfaction, supportive family and friendship networks, community involvement, family structure and demographics, and parent psychological symptoms. Additionally, the first assessment includes questions about motivations and expectations for adoption, pre-adoption preparation, and information about the prospective adopted child. Subsequent assessments will be conducted at 6, 12, and 24 months post placement. Questions on these surveys will include indices of parenting distress, marital satisfaction, health, development, and behavior of the adopted child, and the degree to which parents felt their hopes and expectations have been met. The specific aims of the project are as follows: 1) to examine the pre-adoptive characteristics of adopting families and their relationships to child characteristics; 2) to test a transactional model of influence in which pre-adoptive characteristics of children (e.g., age at placement, country of origin) interact with family and ecological variables to predict post-adoptive outcomes; 3) to identify potential mediators of outcome and 4) to identify potential outcome moderators associated with individual and group differences in adjustment outcomes for children and families.