Study on psychological adaptation of adopted children

A study on adaptive variables in children from international adoption processes carried out by UAB researchers shows that adopted children do not present adaptation differences in general when compared to non adopted children. They are also less likely to somatise psychological problems. Nevertheless, adopted children from Eastern European countries do present more problems than others in adaptation, attention span and interpersonal relations.

14/07/2011

Over 4,000 international adoptions take place in Spain every year. Although the process of adaptation of these children is very similar to that of those living with their biological parents, some studies show that they are more prone to to being hyperactive, to having behavioural problems, low self-esteem and doing poorly in school. A group of researchers at UAB carried out a psychological study aimed at examining adaptation among adopted children with a sample of 52 children from different countries aged 6 to 11 and a control group of 44 non adapted children. Countries of origin included China, Nepal, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Columbia, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru and Ethiopia.

The research reveals that there are relatively no differences in the adaptation processes of adopted and non adopted children. This fact points to resilience variables - both individual and familial - which counteract the effects of negative experiences and propitiate a favourable development, similar to that of children who have not undergone these experiences.

The aspect differentiating adopted children the most is that they are less likely to somatise psychological problems: adopted children suffer less from problems related to somatisation, i.e. the appearance of physical symptoms caused by anxiety or psychological conflicts. With regards to differences between girls and boys, variations seen in the adaptation abilities of adopted boys were not observed among girls.

The research points to the fact that the time spent at a centre before being adopted is related to different areas of development such as behavioural problems, shorter attention span, depression, and weaker adaptation and social abilities, all of which coincides with the results of other international studies.

The research notes that children from Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine in this case) have more difficulties in adapting, are more prone to attention problems, have poorer adaptation and interpersonal relation skills. In contrast, children from other areas experience the adaptation process similarly to non adopted children. Researchers believe these differences could be due to country-specific conditions before and after birth, as well as to tobacco or alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Another aspects taken into account was that attention problems appear more frequently in children adopted after the age of three.

The study, published in The Spanish Journal of Psychology, was carried out by researchers from the UAB Department of Clinical and Health Psychology Natalia Barcons, Albert Fornieles and Carme Costas.