Abstract
Children adopted from out-of-home care may present symptoms of developmental trauma that affect their functioning. This puts their adoptive parents at risk of experiencing secondary trauma. The purpose of this research was to understand the experience of adoptive parents who self-report symptoms of secondary trauma in relation to their child’s symptoms of developmental trauma. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101, 2006) thematic analysis method. Ten adoptive parents were recruited from four community organizations providing support for adoptive parents or parents of children with attachment disorder. All participants reported feeling strong emotions related to secondary trauma, as well as physical and mental health issues that appeared after the child’s arrival in the family. Participants reported experiencing aggression from their child, which greatly disturbed the parent–child relationship and led to the child being placed in residential care for half of the families involved in the study. Secondary trauma was insufficient to fully capture the experience of these parents as it failed to account for the suffering and distress linked to their efforts to establish a parent–child relationship. Instead, filial trauma was used to describe this experience. The authors conclude that a better understanding of filial trauma can contribute to improving post-adoption services for parents struggling to fulfill one of the most important roles of their lives: being the parent of their child.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.
Notes
The program has this title because it refers to a database (Banque, in French) of prospective adoptive parents who agree to have a “mixed” or dual role: foster parent at first, then prospective adoptive parent.
References
Baird, K., & Kracen, A. C. (2006). Vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress: A research synthesis. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 19(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070600811899
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bridger, K. M., Binder, J. F., & Kellezi, B. (2020). Secondary traumatic stress in foster carers: Risk factors and implications for intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(2), 482–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01668-2
Brodzinsky, D., Gunnar, M., & Palacios, J. (2022). Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption. Child Abuse & Neglect, 130(Pt 2), 105309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309
Chateauneuf, D. (2015). L'adoption en contexte de protection de l'enfance: Profils et trajectoires d'enfants pris en charge à la naissance. Recherches Familiales, 12, 137–151. https://doi.org/10.3917/rf.012.0137
Chateauneuf, D., & Lessard, J. (2015). La famille d'accueil à vocation adoptive: Enjeux et réflexions autour du modèle québécois. Service Social, 61(1), 19–41. https://doi.org/10.7202/1033738ar
Conrad, D. (2004). The cost of caring: Secondary traumatic stress. Fostering Communications, XVIII(3). http://www.secondarytrauma.org/Fostering_Communications.pdf
Cook, A., Spinazzola, J., Ford, J., Cheryl, L., Blaustein, M., Cloitre, M., DeRosa, R. R., Hubbard, R., Kagan, R., Liautaud, J., Mallah, K., Olafson, E., & Van Der Kolk, B. A. (2005). Complex trauma in children and adolescents. Psychiatric Annals, 35(5), 390–398.
Côté, C., & Le Blanc, A. (2016). Pratique intégrant la notion de trauma: trousse de soutien. Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-sud-de-l'Ile-de-Montréal. http://observatoiremaltraitance.ca/Documents/trauma_trousse_soutien_CCSMTL.pdf
D'Andrade, A., & Berrick, J. D. (2006). When Policy Meets Practice: The Untested Effects of Permanency Reforms in Child Welfare. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 33(1), 31–52.
Duboc, M. (2008). L'adoption et après ?. La mise en place du lien adoptif. Informations sociales, 146(2), 104–113. http://www.cairn.info/revue-informations-sociales-2008-2-page-104.htm
Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion Fatigue : Coping With Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder In Those Who Treat The Traumatized. Routledge. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=72836&lang=fr&site=ehost-live
Follan, M., & Mcnamara, M. (2014). A fragile bond: Adoptive parents’ experiences of caring for children with a diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23(7–8), 1076–1085.
Gilmartin, D., & McElvaney, R. (2020). Filial therapy as a core intervention with children in foster care. Child Abuse Review, 29(2), 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2602
Godbout, N., Girard, M., Milot, T., Collin-Vézina, D., & Hébert, M. (2018). Répercussions liées aux traumas complexes. In T. Milot, D. Collin-Vézina, & N. Godbout (Eds.), Trauma complexe. Comprendre, évaluer et intervenir (pp. 57–90). Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Hannah, B., & Woolgar, M. (2018). Secondary trauma and compassion fatigue in foster carers. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23(4), 629–643. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104518778327
Hartinger-Saunders, R. M., Jones, A. S., & Rittner, B. (2019). Improving access to trauma-informed adoption services: Applying a developmental trauma framework. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 12(1), 119–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0104-1
Hélie, S., Drapeau, S., Châteauneuf, D., Esposito, T., Noël, J., Poirier, M.-A., & Saint-Jacques, M.-C. (2020). L’évaluation des impacts de la Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse : Point de mire sur la réunification familiale et le replacement. Rapport déposé au ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux. Institut universitaire Jeunes en difficulté. 423. https://iujd.ca/sites/iujd/files/media/document/Rapport%20ELPJ%203%20version%20integrale.pdf
Holt, A. (2015). Adolescent-to-parent abuse as a form of “domestic violence”: A conceptual review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(5), 490–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015584372
Hughes, D., & Baylin, J. (2012). Brain-based parenting: The neuroscience of caregiving for healthy attachment. Norton and Company.
Joyal, R. (2006). Parenté, parentalité et filiation. Des questions cruciales pour l’avenir de nos enfants et de nos sociétés. Enfances, Familles, Générations (5), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.7202/015778ar
Klinik Community Health Centre, Bolton, M. J., Buck, S., Conners, E., Kiernan, K., Matthews, C., McKellar, M., Proulx, J., Wall, T., Willette, T., & Santé Canada. (2013). Manuel sur les traumatismes (2nd ed.) http://trauma-informed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Trauma-informed_Toolkit_fr_revised.pdf
Lévy-Soussan, P. (2007). Construction de l'identité et filiation adoptive: quand le fil ne noue plus les fils. In Prisme: L’adoption: État des lieux (Vol. 46, pp. 248–257). Éditions du CHU Ste-Justine.
Malm, K., & Welti, K. (2010). Exploring motivations to adopt. Adoption Quarterly, 13, 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2010.524872
Miles, C., & Condry, R. (2016). Adolescent to parent violence: The police response to parents reporting violence from their children. Policing and Society, 26(7), 804–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2014.989158
Molinari, D. L., & Freeborn, D. (2006). Social support needs of families adopting special needs children. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 44(4), 28–34.
National Consortium on Aggression towards Family/Caregivers in Childhood & Adolescence. (2021). Building Understanding to Improve Outcomes for Families.
Ottaway, H., & Selwyn, J. (2016). ‘No-one told us it was going to be like this’: Compassion fatigue and foster carers. 1–49. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/sps/documents/hadleydocs/compassion-fatigue-and-foster-carers-final%20report.pdf
Pagé, G., Poirier, M.-A., & Chateauneuf, D. (2019). Being a foster-to-adopt parent: Experiences of (un)certainty and their influence on the sense of being the parent. Adoption Quarterly, 22(2), 95–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2019.1579132
Pearlman, L. A. (1995). Self-care for trauma therapists: Ameliorating vicarious traumatization. In Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators. (pp. 51–64). The Sidran Press.
Perry, B. D. (2014). The cost of caring: Understanding and preventing secondary traumatic stress when working with traumatized and maltreated children. CTA Parent and Caregiver Education Series, 2(7). https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cost_of_Caring_Secondary_Traumatic_Stress_Perry_s.pdf
Piché, A.-M. (2011). La construction sociale de la relation adoptive: Expériences parentales de l'adoption d'enfants grands a l'international [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, MCGill University]. Montréal, Qc.
Schooler, J. E. (2010). Living with traumatized children: The impact on parents. In J. Schooler, B. Keefer Smalley, & T. Callahan (Eds.), Wounded children, healing homes: How traumatized children impact adoptive and foster families (pp. 73–87). NavPress.
Selwyn, J., & Meakings, S. (2016). Adolescent-to-parent violence in adoptive families. The British Journal of Social Work, 46(5), 1224–1240. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcv072
Stamm, B. H. (2010). The concise ProQOL (Pocatello, Ed.) http://www.proqol.org/uploads/ProQOL_Concise_2ndEd_12-2010.pdf
Suetterlein, K. S. (2007). Exploring the impact of children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder on the parenting experience [doctoral dissertation, Chestnut Hill College, ]. Philadelphie, PA. https://proxybiblio.uqo.ca:2146/pqdtglobal/docview/304704417/307EABD267CB429APQ/1?accountid=14724
ter Meulen, G., Smeets, D., & Juffer, F. (2019). The relation between adult adoptees’ feelings about relinquishment, adoption and satisfaction with life. Adoption & Fostering, 43(2), 192–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308575919841754
Tyebjee, T. (2003). Attitude, interest, and motivation for adoption and foster care. Child Welfare, 82, 685–706.
Van Der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking Press.
Vasquez, M., & Stensland, M. (2016). Adopted children with reactive attachment disorder: A qualitative study on family processes. Clinical Social Work Journal, 44(3), 319–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0560-3
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participants for their generous contributions to this study. We hope that we have been able to report their experiences as accurately as possible. We would also like to warmly thank Lauri Daly Cabral and Maude Champagne for their generous time in reviewing the text.
Funding
Institut Universitaire Jeunes en difficulté,Fondation Desjardins,Fondation de l'Université du Québec en Outaouais,Social Work Department of Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
We received approval from the The Research Ethics Committee of the Université du Québec en Outaouais. APA ethical standards were followed in the conduct of the study. My coauthor, Geneviève Pagé, and I do not have any competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
No Relevant Financial or Non-financial Interests
We have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. All of the authors listed in the byline have agreed to the byline order and to submission of the manuscript in this form. There is no existence of any closely related manuscripts that have been submitted for simultaneous consideration.
Conflicts of Interest
There is no conflicts of interest or activities that might be seen as influencing the research.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Tremblay, K., Pagé, G. Filial Trauma: The Experience of Adoptive Parents of Children with Complex Behavioral and Relational Problems. Journ Child Adol Trauma (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00601-6
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00601-6