Development and adjustment of adopted adolescents : longitudinal and concurrent factors

The first study of this thesis (Chapter 2) showed that the majority of the internationally adopted children are well adjusted, although a relatively large minority of adopted children had behavior problems of clinical significance or were referred to mental health services compared with non-adopted children. Nevertheless, adoption may often be the best solution for a child who would otherwise be raised in an institution or in other adverse environments (see also Juffer, 2002; Van IJzendoorn et al., 2005). The second and third study (Chapters 3 and 4) showed several longitudinal and concurrent influences on the behavioral and social development of adopted adolescents. The second study (Chapter 3) showed that early-onset delinquency was associated with stress hyporeactivity. The differentiation between delinquency and aggression, and between childhood-onset and adolescence-onset delinquency (Moffitt, 1993) appeared to be important for our understanding of the development of externalizing problem behaviors. The third study (Chapter 4) showed that individual development from infancy through middle childhood to adolescence was rather stable and that concurrent environmental experiences and child characteristics were essential influences on middle childhood and adolescent social development. Early parent-child relationships did not determine in final form social development in adolescence, but they provided the basis for healthy social development through the influence on earlier social development, even in the absence of genetic similarities between children and parents. Bowlby__s (1973, 1980) thesis that adaptation is always a product of both developmental history and current circumstances was supported.Universiteit leidenVereniging Wereldkinderen Stichting Kind en ToekomstFSW - Gezinsopvoeding - Ou

Development and adjustment of adopted adolescents : longitudinal and concurrent factors

The first study of this thesis (Chapter 2) showed that the majority of the internationally adopted children are well adjusted, although a relatively large minority of adopted children had behavior problems of clinical significance or were referred to mental health services compared with non-adopted children. Nevertheless, adoption may often be the best solution for a child who would otherwise be raised in an institution or in other adverse environments (see also Juffer, 2002; Van IJzendoorn et al., 2005). The second and third study (Chapters 3 and 4) showed several longitudinal and concurrent influences on the behavioral and social development of adopted adolescents. The second study (Chapter 3) showed that early-onset delinquency was associated with stress hyporeactivity. The differentiation between delinquency and aggression, and between childhood-onset and adolescence-onset delinquency (Moffitt, 1993) appeared to be important for our understanding of the development of externalizing problem behaviors. The third study (Chapter 4) showed that individual development from infancy through middle childhood to adolescence was rather stable and that concurrent environmental experiences and child characteristics were essential influences on middle childhood and adolescent social development. Early parent-child relationships did not determine in final form social development in adolescence, but they provided the basis for healthy social development through the influence on earlier social development, even in the absence of genetic similarities between children and parents. Bowlby__s (1973, 1980) thesis that adaptation is always a product of both developmental history and current circumstances was supported

Problem behavior of internationally adopted adolescents: A review and meta-analysis

Wetensch. publ. refereedFaculteit der Sociale Wetenschappe

Social development from infancy to adolescence: Longitudinal and concurrent factors in an adoption sample.

Multivariate analysis of psychological data - ou

Another way of thinking about ADHD: the predictive role of early attachment deprivation in adolescents' level of symptoms.

PURPOSE: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent disorders in childhood and adolescence. Both neurocognitive and environmental factors have been related to ADHD. The current study contributes to the documentation of the predictive relation between early attachment deprivation and ADHD. METHOD: Data were collected from 641 adopted adolescents (53.2 % girls) aged 11-16 years in five countries, using the DSM oriented scale for ADHD of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach and Rescorla, Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth and Families, Burlington, 2001). The influence of attachment deprivation on ADHD symptoms was initially tested taking into consideration several key variables that have been reported as influencing ADHD at the adoptee level (age, gender, length of time in the adoptive family, parents' educational level and marital status), and at the level of the country of origin and country of adoption (poverty, quality of health services and values). The analyses were computed using the multilevel modeling technique. RESULTS: The results showed that an increase in the level of ADHD symptoms was predicted by the duration of exposure to early attachment deprivation, estimated from the age of adoption, after controlling for the influence of adoptee and country variables. The effect of the age of adoption was also demonstrated to be specific to the level of ADHD symptoms in comparison to both the externalizing and internalizing behavior scales of the CBCL. CONCLUSION: Deprivation of stable and sensitive care in infancy may have long-lasting consequences for children's development