The psychological adjustment of United States adopted adolescents and their nonadopted siblings. 1998

A R Sharma, and M K McGue, and P L Benson
Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA. anusharma@search-institute.org

Using data from a national sample of 715 United States adoptive families, comparisons were made between adopted adolescents and birth adolescents (children born to the adoptive parents) on the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach), 8 psychological and behavioral adjustment factor scales from the Attitudes and Behaviors survey (Benson), and an identity scale (Search Institute). Multivariate, followed by univariate, analyses of variance showed significant differences between the 2 groups on the psychological factor scales of Licit Drug Use and School Adjustment. A subsample of nonclinically referred adopted adolescents were also compared to norms on the Youth Self-Report. Nonreferred adopted boys showed higher levels of adjustment than the norm group on Withdrawn behaviors. Nonreferred adopted girls showed better adjustment than the norm group on Social Problems and Withdrawn behaviors and poorer adjustment on Delinquent Behavior and Externalizing behavior. (Standardized effect sizes were in the small to moderate range.) These same patterns were evidenced when controlling for ethnicity. These data are examined within Brodzinsky's stress and coping model of adoptee adjustment and support a body of adoption research that finds a pattern of small but significant differences between adopted and nonadopted persons. The differences showing poorer adoptee adjustment in comparison to nonadoptees should not be overstated as is sometimes the case in the adoption clinical literature, and areas in which adoptees evidence higher levels of psychological functioning should be further researched.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007389 Internal-External Control Personality construct referring to an individual's perception of the locus of events as determined internally by his or her own behavior versus fate, luck, or external forces. (ERIC Thesaurus, 1996). Locus of Control,External-Internal Control,Sense of Control,Control Locus,Control, External-Internal,Controls, External-Internal,Controls, Internal-External,Internal-External Controls
D007604 Juvenile Delinquency The antisocial acts of children or persons under age which are illegal or lawfully interpreted as constituting delinquency. Delinquency, Juvenile
D008297 Male Males
D010553 Personality Development Growth of habitual patterns of behavior in childhood and adolescence. Development, Personality
D010555 Personality Inventory Check list, usually to be filled out by a person about himself, consisting of many statements about personal characteristics which the subject checks. Edwards Personal Preference Schedule,Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,Indicator, Myers-Briggs Type,Inventories, Personality,Inventory, Personality,Myers Briggs Type Indicator,Personality Inventories
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000223 Adaptation, Psychological A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed). Behavior, Adaptive,Healthy Adaptation,Positive Adaptation,Psychological Recovery,Adaptation, Psychologic,Adjustment,Psychological Adaptation,Adaptation, Healthy,Adaptation, Positive,Adaptive Behavior,Adaptive Behaviors,Healthy Adaptations,Positive Adaptations,Psychologic Adaptation,Psychological Recoveries,Recovery, Psychological
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000300 Adoption Voluntary acceptance of a child of other parents to be as one's own child, usually with legal confirmation. Adoptions

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