Couple partnership and divorce in domestic and non-European international adoptees. A Swedish national cohort study with follow up until 36 to 45 years

Adoption research shows a growing interest in adopted persons in their adult years. This article examines couple partnerships and divorce among adult adoptees and non-adoptees. Using population-based Swedish register data with follow-up until age 36–45 years, domestic and international adoptees were compared with the general population, as well as with immigrants who settled in Sweden in their early years and share with international adoptees a non-European physical appearance. Given their preadoption adversities and associated increased mental health problems, as well as postadoption experiences of perceived discrimination, adoptees were expected to have more problems in the formation and breakdown of partner relationships, particularly in the case of international adoptees. The study used data from national registers on Swedish national cohorts born 1972–83, including two study groups with a non-European origin who settled in Sweden at age 0–8 years (14,761 international adoptees and 11,085 immigrants) as well as 906 domestic adoptees and 936,988 Swedish born with a Swedish-born mother from the general population. In contrast with international adoptees, who have a 14 % lower adjusted rate of couple compared with the general population, domestic adoptees were more like the Swedish general population in terms of couple partnership formation. However, in terms of divorce, domestic and international adoptees share a significantly higher incidence than the general population and the immigrants study groups. Both in the formation and breakdown of couple relationships, international adopted men present less favorable outcomes than international adopted women. Further research is needed to elucidate the reasons behind these patterns

A note on stable flow-equivalent aggregation in closed networks

Samhället har tagit på sig ett stort ansvar för de barn som placeras utanför hemmet. Många av dem har upplevt svårigheter och inte fått tillräcklig omvårdnad. Ska dessa barn få samma möjlighet till ett gott liv som sina jämnåriga kamrater behöver de därför ett minst lika bra omhändertagande, av både fosterföräldrar och samhället i stort. Barn som lever i fosterhem är en mycket heterogen grupp. De behöver olika vård och bemötande i familjehemmet för att utvecklas optimalt. Just detta mycket komplexa förhållande berörs inte i denna kunskapsöversikt. Här har vi valt att fokusera på samhällets grundläggande omhändertagande av barnen. Tre primära beståndsdelar i den nordiska välfärdsmodellen är att ge barn en god och jämlik utbildning, förebygga hälsoproblem och underlätta övergången från barndom till vuxenliv. Det är dessa områden som beskrivs här. Den nordiska forskning som finns pekar på att barn som växer upp i fosterhem inte får samma goda stöd som andra barn på dessa områden och det tycks inte bli bättre under tiden i vård! Nordens Välfärdscenter och författarna presenterar konkreta rekommendationer om hur man kan förbättra situationen för fosterhemsplacerade barn. Det är rekommendationer som sannolikt förhindrar utanförskap och ohälsa för ett antal av dem på både kort och lång sikt.Nordens Barn - Fokus på barn i fosterhe

Avoidable mortality among parents whose children were placed in care in Sweden: A retrospective matched cohort study

Introduction Separation from one’s child can have significant consequences for parental health and well-being. Objectives and Approach We aimed to investigate whether parents whose children were placed in care had higher rates of avoidable (amenable and preventable) mortality. Data were obtained from the Swedish national registers. Mortality rates among parents whose children were placed in care between 1990 and 2012 (17 505 mothers, 18 286 fathers) were compared with a 5:1 matched cohort of parents whose children were not placed. We computed rate differences and hazard ratios of all-cause and avoidable mortality. Results When compared with parents who did not have a child placed in care, there were an additional 21 avoidable deaths per 10 000-person years among mothers and an additional 27 avoidable deaths per 10 000-person years among fathers whose children were placed in care. Among mothers, death due to preventable causes were 3·83 times greater (95% CI 2·82-5·21) and deaths due to amenable causes were 3·12 times greater (95% CI 2·07-4·69) for those whose children were placed in care. Among fathers, death due to preventable causes was 1·75 times greater (95% CI 1·41-2·16) and deaths due to amenable causes were 1·52 times greater (95% CI 1·08- 2·13) for those whose children were placed in care. Avoidable mortality rates were higher among mothers whose children were young when placed in care and parents whose children were all placed in care. Conclusion/Implications Mothers who had a young child placed and parents whose children were all placed in care are at much higher risk of avoidable mortality than parents whose children were not placed in care. Targeted public health interventions and more attentive health care could reduce risk of avoidable mortality in this group of parents

School performance of international adoptees better than expected from cognitive test results

Objective: To investigate school performance of international adoptees in relation to their cognitive competence. Method: From the population of all male Swedish residents born 1973–1976, registered in the census 1985 and with complete test scores from military conscription, the following study groups were identified: Korean adoptees (n = 320), non-Korean adoptees (n = 1,125), siblings (children born by adoptive parents, n = 190) and Swedish majority comparisons (n = 142,024). Global scores from intelligence tests at conscription were compared with grade points from the last compulsory school year (year 9). Linear and logistic regression was applied in statistical analyses. Results: The mean grade points in theoretical subjects were lower in non-Korean adoptees than in the majority population, but when global test scores from military conscription were adjusted for, outcomes were significantly better, equal for physics, than in the majority population. The grade points of Korean adoptees were higher than in the majority population and the same held true after adjusting for global test scores. When SES was taken into account, the risk of poor school performance (only completed lower subject levels) increased in non-Korean adoptees compared to models only adjusted for age and sex. Conclusion: Male international adoptees generally perform better in school than expected by their cognitive competence. A cognitive evaluation is important in the assessment of adoptees with learning difficulties

Fosterbarn som unga vuxna – en översikt av resultat från några nationella registerstudier

I artikeln sammanfattas resultat från flera svenska nationella registerstudierom fosterbarn samt diskuteras vilka implikationer dessaresultat har för socialtjänsten, psykiatrin m fl. Jämfört med jämnårigasom inte fått socialtjänstinsatser har fosterbarn höga överriskerför• att vårdas på sjukhus för suicidförsök eller med psykiatrisk diagnosunder i unga vuxna år eller under tonåren• att gå ut i vuxenlivet som lågutbildade• att minst en förälder har dött innan barnet blivit myndig• att själva bli föräldrar i tonåre

Fosterbarn som vuxna

What are the social positions of adults who were in long-term foster care as children, compared with the general population and with adults who grew up at home in families similar to foster children's birth families? How common is it to have been in foster care? Four approaches are used in this study: - A systematic review of around 50 studies on adult foster children. Conclusions are more pessimistic than in earlier reviews: on a group level, adult foster children's positions achievements seem roughly to be on par with former children from different "risk groups" who grew up at home. -A descriptive epidemiological study of the birth cohorts 1972-74. It is estimated that roughly 3-4% of all Swedish born adults have experience of foster care, in a wide sense. - A mortality study on 14.000 children born 1960-73, placed in foster care before their teens. Results reveal a clear excess mortality among former foster children compared to their peers in the general population, but mainly restricted to men. - A follow-up study comparing 107 adult foster children, born 1958-67, with their 128 adult birth siblings who grew up in their mother's care. All foster children were in care for >5 years before their teens. The vast majority experienced very long and stable foster care. Age differences between siblings with different fates are <5 years. Micro-data from several national registers and local records on e g education, health, parenthood, crime and self support are structured in 41 outcome variables. Statistical analyzises reveal virtually no differences between the two groups, controlling for sex. Former foster girls tend to be better off than former foster boys. Results warrant clear warnings for far-reaching generalizations since sample is small, selective and probably time-specific. Interpretations of results in the light of developmental psychopathology amd the works of Triseliotis suggest that long-term foster care does contain several developmental risk factors. The dynamics of these over time, e g their nnteraction with each other, individual dispositions and protective factors - can be difficult to trace empirically