Abstract
We investigated academic and behavioral outcomes of internationally adopted children and the associations between these outcomes and age at adoption, time spent in the adoptive family, and parenting. At two time points (T1 and T2, ~15 months apart), we examined early academic skills (school readiness), and parent-reported behavioral adjustment (internalizing and externalizing behavior) and adaptive functioning of a sample of 75 children (45.9% boys, mean age = 5.17 years) adopted from Russia into US families. We also collected parents’ self-assessments of their parenting at T1. Children who were adopted at a younger age showed higher levels of early academic skills. Correlations between age at adoption and other outcomes were overall small and mostly non-significant. However, adoptees’ academic and behavioral progress differed notably in several respects. Specifically, adoptees improved in early academic skills over time, whereas, as a group, their adaptive functioning and behavioral adjustment remained stable within the normal range. Early academic skills were not related to behavioral adjustment at each time point and over time. The time spent in the adoptive family was positively related to early academic skills at T2. Whereas outcomes showed little to no relation to parenting as reported by mother and father separately, higher discrepancies between mothers' and fathers' reports of positive parenting were related to higher levels of behavioral symptoms and lower levels of adaptive skills at T2. These differential results may be explained in part by drawing upon the notion of dissociated domains of psychological and sociocultural adaptation and acculturation, outlined in the immigration literature. These results also bring to light the possible importance of between-parent consistency in parenting for adoptees’ behavioral outcomes.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by funds from the Foundation for Child Development (PI: Grigorenko). We acknowledge the contribution of numerous data collectors who assisted with the assessment of children, families, and caregivers while completing their clinical training. We are grateful to the children and families for their time and patience.
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This research was supported by funds from the Foundation for Child Development.
Author Contributions
S.H.: conducted the data analyses and wrote the paper. M.T.: wrote parts of the introduction and discussion, and assisted in the interpretation and discussion of the findings. N.R.: assisted with the data management and analysis, and collaborated on the writing of the manuscript. N.D.: recruited the families, administered the assessments. L.H.: assessed children and families. D.M.: recruited the families, administered the assessments. V.R.: consulted on the design the project. E.L.G.: designed the study, secured funding, and supervised data collection.
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Hein, S., Tan, M., Rakhlin, N. et al. Psychological and Sociocultural Adaptation of Children Adopted from Russia and their Associations with Pre-Adoption Risk Factors and Parenting. J Child Fam Stud 26, 2669–2680 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0782-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0782-9