Abstract
Recent research in adoption has considered the factors and processes that underlie the adjustment of children and families. However, little research has been conducted on certain types of adoptive families, specifically on families with both adoptive and biological children often designated as mixed families. This subject is addressed by the present study which also analyzes the association between the type of adoptive family and children’s outcomes—prosocial and problem behavior—parenting stress and the relational family environment. It also examines whether children’s gender, age at adoption and the number of children in the home moderate these effects. 102 parents of adoptive children (ACF) 33 parents of both adoptive and biological children (ABCF) and 102 parents of biological children (BCF) participated in the study. Target-children were aged from 6 to 12 years. The Portuguese versions of the SDQ-P, PSI-SF and FES (Interpersonal Relationship dimension) were used. Results showed that the type of adoptive family—ACF and ABCF—significantly explained the variance of children’s behavioral problems and parenting stress. The child’s gender was shown to moderate the relationship between ACF parents and their perception of child’s prosocial behavior. The results give relevant clues as to the importance of distinct outcomes in adoptive families—ACF and ABCF—compared to families with only biological children and should, therefore, be a resource for professionals involved in the adopters’ suitability assessment and adoption intervention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting stress index—professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
American Psychological Association (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 57, 1060–1073. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.12.1060.
American Psychological Association (2010). 2010 Amendments to the 2002 “Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”. American Psychologist, 65, 493 https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020168.
Askeland, K. G., Hysing, M., La Greca, A. M., Aarø, L. E., Tell, G. S., & Sivertsen, B. (2017). Mental health in internationally adopted adolescents: a meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(3), 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.12.009.
Barth, R. P., & Brooks, D. (1997). A longitudinal study of family structure and size and adoption outcomes. Adoption Quarterly, 1, 29–56. https://doi.org/10.1300/J145v01n01_03.
Benson, P. L., Sharma, A. R., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (1994). Growing up adopted: a portrait of adolescents and their families. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Bird, G., Peterson, R., & Miller, S. H. (2002). Factors associated with distress among support-seeking adoptive parents. Family Relations, 51, 215–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2002.00215.x.
Boeldt, D. L., Rhee, S. H., DiLalla, L. F., Mullineaux, P. Y., Schulz-Heik, R. J., Corley, R. P., & Hewitt, J. K. (2012). The association between positive parenting and externalizing behavior. Infant & Child Development, 21, 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.764.
Brodzinsky, D.M. & Pinderhughes, E. (2002). Parenting and child development in adoptive families. In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 1: children and parenting (2nd ed.). (pp. 279–311). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brooks, D., & Barth, R. P. (1999). Adult transracial and inracial adoptees: effects of race, gender, adoptive family structure, and placement history on adjustment outcomes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69, 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0080384.
Ceballo, R., Lansford, J. E., Abbey, A., & Stewart, A. J. (2004). Gaining a child: comparing the experiences of biological parents, adoptive parents, and stepparents. Family Relations, 53, 38–48.
Crea, T. M., Chan, K., & Barth, R. P. (2013). Family environment and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adopted children: associations with family cohesion and adaptability. Child: Care, Health and Development, 40, 853–862. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12112.
Fleitlich, B., Loureiro, M., Fonseca, A., & Gaspar, M. (2005). Questionário de Capacidades e de Dificuldades (SDQ-Por). http://www.sdqinfo.org. Accessed 10 Mar 2015.
Gibson, K. (2009). Differential parental investment in families with both adopted and genetic children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30, 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.01.001.
Goldberg, A. E., & Smith, J. Z. (2014). Predictors of parenting stress in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents during early parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 28, 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036007.
Goodman, R. (1997). The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology, Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 38, 581–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x.
Grotevant, H. D., & McDermott, J. M. (2014). Adoption: biological and social processes linked to adaptation. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 235–265. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115020.
Haugaard, J. J., & Hazan, C. (2003). Adoption as a natural experiment. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 909–926. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579403000427.
Hawk, B. N., & McCall, R. B. (2011). Specific extreme behaviors of postinstitutionalized Russian adoptees. Developmental Psychology, 47, 732–738. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021108.
Hodges, J., Steele, M., Hillman, S., Henderson, K. & Kaniuk, J. (2005). Change and continuity in mental representations of attachment after adoption. In D.M. Brodzinsky, J. Palacios (Eds.), Psychological issues in adoption: research and practice (pp. 93–116). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group.
IBM Corp. (2014). IBM SPSS statistics for windows. Armonk, NY: Author. ReleasedVersion23.0.
Ji, J., Brooks, D., Barth, R. P., & Kim, H. (2010). Beyond pre-adoptive risk: the impact of adoptive family environment on adopted youth’s psychosocial adjustment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01046.x.
Judge, S. L. (2003). Determinants of parental stress in families adopting children from Eastern Europe. Family Relations, 52, 241–248.
Juffer, F., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2005). Behavior problems and mental health referrals of international adoptees. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293, 2501–2515. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2003.00241.x.
Kim, W. J., Shin, Y.-J., & Carey, M. P. (1999). Comparison of Korean-American adoptees and biological children of their adoptive parents: a pilot study. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 29, 221–228.
Kumsta, R., Kreppner, J., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., Rutter, M., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2015). Psychological consequences of early global deprivation: an overview of findings from the English & Romanian Adoptees study. European Psychologist, 20, 138–151. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000227.
Lansford, J. E., Ceballo, R., Abbey, A., & Stewart, A. J. (2001). Does family structure matter? A comparison of adoptive, two-parent biological, single-mother, stepfather, and stepmother households. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 840–851. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00840.x.
León, E., Palacios, J., Román, M., Moreno, C., & Peñarrubia, M. G. (2015). Parental stress, family functioning and children’s psychological adjustment in adoptive families: a comparative and longitudinal study. Family Science, 6, 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/19424620.2015.1080991.
Marzocchi, G. M., Capron, C., Di Pietro, M., Tauleria, E. D., Duyme, M., Frigerio, A., et al. (2004). The use of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) in Southern European countries. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 13, 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-004-2007-1.
McDonald, T. P., Propp, J. R., & Murphy, K. C. (2001). The postadoption experience: child, parent, and family predictors of family adjustment to adoption. Child Welfare, 80, 71–94.
Moos, R. H., & Moos, B. S. (1994). Family environment scale manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Neece, C. L., Green, S. A., & Baker, B. L. (2012). Parenting stress and child behavior problems: a transactional relationship across time. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 117, 48–66. https://doi.org/10.1352/1944-7558-117.1.48.
Palácios, J. (2000). Familias adoptivas. In M.J. Rodrigo, J. Palácios (Eds.), Família e desarrollo humano (pp. 353–371). Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Palacios, J., & Brodzinsky, D. (2010). Adoption research: trends, topics and outcomes. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410362837.
Park, H., Barth, R. P., & Harrington, D. (2013). Factor structure of adoptive parent-child relationship items from the National Study of Adoptive Parents. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 4, 20–30. https://doi.org/10.5243/jsswr.2013.2.
Prioste, A., Narciso, I., Gonçalves, M., & Pereira, C. (2016). Adolescent parents’ values: The role played by retrospective perceptions of the family-of-origin. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 25, 224–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0211-x.
Robinson, C. B., McGuinness, T. M., Azuero, A., & Pallansch, L. (2015). Problem behaviors of children adopted from the former Soviet Union. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 28, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcap.12098.
Rosnati, R., Ranieri, S., & Barni, D. (2013). Family and social relationships and psychosocial well-being in Italian families with internationally adopted and non-adopted children. Adoption Quarterly, 16, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2012.731030.
Rueter, M. A., Keyes, M. A., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2009). Family interactions in adoptive compared to nonadoptive families. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014091.
Sánchez-Sandoval, Y. (2011). Satisfacción con la adopción y con sus repercusiones en la vida familiar [Adoptive parents’ satisfaction with the adoption experience and with its impact on family life]. Psicothema, 23, 630–635.
Sánchez-Sandoval, Y., & Palacios, J. (2012). Stress in adoptive parents of adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 1283–1289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.03.002.
Santos, M., & Fontaine, A.M. (1995). Avaliação do ambiente familiar por crianças e pré-adolescentes: Alguns aspectos da adaptaçãoo da FES [Children and adolescents assessment of the family environment: features of the adaptation of the FES]. In L.S. Almeida & I.S. Ribeiro (Orgs.), Avaliação Psicológica: Formas e Contextos (pp. 421–430). Braga: APPORT.
Santos, S.V. (2008). Forma reduzida do Parenting Stress Índex (PSI): Estudo preliminar [Parenting Stress Index (PSI)—short form: preliminary study]. Braga: XIII Conferência Internacional Avaliação Formas e Contextos.
Segal, N. L., Li, N. P., Graham, J. L., & Miller, S. A. (2015). Do parents favor their adoptive or biological children? Predictions from kin selection and compensatory models. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36, 379–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.03.001.
Tan, T. X. (2008). Impact of biological children’s adjustment on their siblings who were adopted from China. Adoption Quarterly, 11, 278–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926750802569814.
Ternay, M., Wilborn, B., & Day, H. (1985). Perceived child-parent relationships and child adjustment in families with both adopted and natural children. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 146, 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1985.9914453.
Viana, A. G., & Welsh, J. A. (2010). Correlates and predictors of parenting stress among internationally adopting mothers: a longitudinal investigation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 363–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025409339403.
Westhues, A., & Cohen, J. S. (1997). A comparison of the adjustment of adolescent and young adult inter-country adoptees and their siblings. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20, 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/016502597385432.
Woodman, A. C., Mawdsley, H. P., & Hauser-Cram, P. (2015). Parenting stress and child behavior problems within families of children with developmental disabilities: transactional relations across 15 years. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 36, 264–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.10.011.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Ph.D. grant of the first author SFRH/BD/88077/2012, financed by the Technology and Science Foundation (FCT).
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: M.S.-N., I.N., S.V.-S. Methodology: M.S.-N., I.N., S.V.-S., M.S.R. Supervision: M.S.-N., I.N., S.V.-S., M.S.R. Writing—Original Draft Preparation: M.S.-N. Writing—Review and Editing: M.S.-N., I.N., S.V.-S., M.S.R.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the research committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Lisbon and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all the participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Santos-Nunes, M., Narciso, I., Vieira-Santos, S. et al. Adoptive versus Mixed Families: Child Adjustment, Parenting Stress and Family Environment. J Child Fam Stud 27, 1858–1869 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1019-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1019-2