Brodzinsky, David, Ph.D.

English

ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

   Preparing, Educating, and Supporting Adoptive Parents:  What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know? David Brodzinsky, Ph.D. Research and Project Director Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute  Professor Emeritus Clinical & Developmental Psychology Rutgers University  dbrodzinsk@comcast.net Rationale for Adoptive Parent Preparation, Education & Support • Changes in adoption practice have resulted in greater diversity in adoptive family life  • Greater diversity has been accompanied by greater parenting challenges associated with:  -- increase in adoption of special needs children  -- increase in transracial placements  -- increase in open placements Rationale for APP (con’t) • Generally assumed that adoptive parent preparation, education and support is associated with:  -- more realistic expectations on the part of adoptive parents  -- better parenting skills on the part of adoptive parents  -- increased support seeking and utilization of relevant supports   on the part of adoptive parents  -- greater stability of adoption placement  -- greater satisfaction with adoption on the part of adoptive    parents  -- reduced adjustment problems for adopted children  EBDAI:  Adoptive Parent Preparation Project • Seek to develop best-practice standards regarding the preparation, education & support of adoptive parents  • Specific focus is on preparing adoptive parents to better understand & manage the mental health & developmental needs of their children  • Current project does not provide detailed curricula for preparing & educating parents, but rather is a roadmap of the practice principles, educational content areas, and methods that should be followed to ensure that adoptive parents are well-prepared to meet the parenting challenges of adoptive family life Foundation for Best Practice Standards • In developing best-practice standards, we relied upon information derived from:  -- empirical research  -- social casework literature  -- existing education and training programs  -- consultations with adoption agencies, adoption attorneys, & adoption    clinical professionals  -- interviews with adoptive parents   Obstacles to Adoptive Parent Preparation  & Education • Inadequate training of adoption professionals in relation to adoption, mental health, child development, & family dynamics, both in their schooling & on the job  • Insufficient financial & staffing resources to develop & implement ongoing adoptive parent preparation and education programs  • Inadequate guidelines regarding the necessary scope & content for adoptive parent preparation & education programs  • High staff turnover, especially in the public child welfare system  Obstacles (con’t) • Biases of some adoption professionals who view adoption in an unrealistic manner & either ignore, downplay, or dismiss the differences & challenges that can  be associated with adoptive family life  • Under-representation of birthparents & adult adoptees in professional positions associated with child placement and parent preparation  • Viewing adoption as a business focused primarily on making placements, with too little attention to supporting those placements  • Tensions between adoptive parents and professionals that undermine the receptivity of parents to the information & support offered  Obstacles (con’t) • Inadequate information about a child’s birth family & history  • Inadequate post-adoption services in most communities  • Inadequate training of mental health professionals in areas related to adoption  • Lack of receptivity to the information provided or lack of use of services on the part of parents because of their unique personal vulnerabilities, insecurities, and/or unrealistic expectations & beliefs related to adoption Basic Beliefs & Principles Underlying Adoptive Parent Preparation and Education • All children have a right to a loving & permanent family • When children are unable to live with their biological family, adoption represents an appropriate, normal & healthy way of providing for their physical & emotional well-being • Adoption is a lifelong experience, with the potential for influencing the person at every stage of development • Adoption involves the connection of the child to at least two, and possibly more, family systems • Growing up in an adoptive family is a different and more complex experience than growing up in a biological family • Adoptive parenting is associated with unique childrearing challenges • Adoption is connected to the experience of loss, which must be understood, accepted, and respected Basic Beliefs & Principles (con’t) • Loss in adoption is normal, not pathological • Adopted individuals have a right to know about their origins and the circumstances of their adoption • Respect for the adopted person’s birth family is fundamental to his/her emotional well-being • Birth family members should be seen as potential resources for children, whenever possible • Race & culture matter.  Children have a right to learn about their race & culture & to take pride in their birth heritage • Responsible adoptive parenting rests upon a realistic view of adoption General Recommendations for Adoptive Parent Preparation & Education • Educate adoption professionals  • Educate mental health professionals  • Make preparation, education, & support a mandatory and ongoing process  • Provide an objective & balanced view of adoption  • Create an environment conducive to effective parent preparation & education   • Utilize a multi-method, multi-source approach to parent preparation & education   Educate Adoption & Mental Health Professionals • Need to promote the inclusion of adoption training in the curricula of graduate training programs  • Need to develop continuing education programs on adoption geared to all the helping professions  • Educating professionals begins with a self-assessment of their views, beliefs, & attitudes about adoption-related & mental health related issues  • All adoption professionals need to be broadly trained in areas relevant to the preparation, education and support of adoption, including but not limited to: Educate Professionals (con’t): Content Areas • Ongoing changes in adoption practice • Laws & policy associated with adoption practice • Awareness of personal values, beliefs, & stereotypes related to adoption & mental health • How race, ethnicity, culture, & sexual orientation influence adoption practice & adoptive family life • Biological, experiential, social, & cultural factors influencing child development and adoptive family life • Mental health issues in adoption • Developmental issues in adoption • Family lifecycle & parenting issues in adoption • Intervention strategies targeting adoption-related issues (e.g., loss & identity) • Awareness of community resources relevant for adoptive families • Impact of adoption on birth family   Timing of Adoptive Parent Preparation & Education • APP&E begins during the homestudy period • Prospective adoptive parents too often are not ready to assimilate the information at this point because of their focus on getting a child & because of the lack of relevance of certain information for the immediate parenting goals they will face • APP&E needs to be an ongoing process; there should be natural progression from pre-adoption preparation to post-adoption education & support • Best practice standards require that APP&E not only be a routine part of the adoption application & placement process but also that it be integrated into a well-developed and accessible post-adoption service program • For adoption professionals who are unable to provide appropriate post-adoption services, best practice standards require that they be knowledgeable about relevant community resources & provide this information to their clients Providing an Objective & Balanced  View of Adoption • Successful adoptive parenting rests upon parents developing & maintaining realistic expectations about adoption, their children, & their ability to help their children  • Realistic expectations are one of the best predictors of placement stability, adoption satisfaction, & healthy parent-child relationships  • Facilitating realistic expectations begins with providing an objective & balanced view of adoption (i.e., both the benefits & the challenges/risks associated with adoption) and the adopted child’s background  • Conflict for professionals – what to share & how to share it  Providing an Objective & Balanced View (con’t): What’s are the Issues? • Birth parents or other birth family members often present with psychological and/or psychosocial histories that are difficult to talk about with adoptive parents  • Similarly, older placed adopted children often have identifiable problems, or histories, that are difficult to discuss.  • Adoption professionals often don’t know how to discuss these issues – sometimes ignore or minimize them; sometimes exaggerate potential problems in an effort to be forthcoming   -- inadequate training   -- inconsistent research findings   -- lack of guidelines for discussing “difficult” information    Providing an Objective & Balanced View (con’t): Basic Principles for Sharing Information • Full disclosure is absolutely necessary –  -- allows for better preparation of parents to manage the potential or actual problems that    exist  -- fosters more realistic expectations allowing for an informed decision regarding the    adoption  -- reduces the risk for the agency of a wrongful adoption lawsuit  • Disclosure should be a balanced presentation, allowing for a realistic description of the potential problems but without exaggerating or over-pathologizing the birth parents or the child.  Certainly, there should be nothing said that demeans the birth family.  • Disclosure also should provide information which allows parents to expect that their efforts can make a significant difference in the life of the child – perhaps even leading to very normal pattern of adjustment (but not guaranteeing it).    • In short, disclosure should deal directly with the potential problems, but also offer realistic hope for the possibility positive outcomes  -- note the benefits of adoption in the life of children with adverse histories Providing an Objective & Balanced View (con’t): Basic Principles for Sharing Information • Information on a birth parent’s life and adjustment, or a child’s pre-placement life & adjustment, represents person-specific information.  • Translating the implications of this information for long-term adjustment of the child is very difficult, however, for a variety of reasons:   -- research data are about groups of individuals, which doesn’t necessary apply to any one person who has a similar experience as the research subjects   -- there is no single developmental pathway between biological predispositions or early developmental experiences and later forms of psychological adjustment Concept of Multifinality • Similar beginnings often lead to different endpoints        C1 (no long-term problems)            C2  (mild problems)                  C1,2,3   C3 (severe problems)                              Prenatal Exposure To Drugs Concept of Equifinality • Similar outcomes stem from different beginnings    C1    C2    C3       Significant  Prenatal  Exposure  To Drugs Low Level  Prenatal  Exposure  To Drugs No Prenatal Exposure To Drugs Normal Range Of  Academic Adjustment Basic Principles (con’t) • Two Important Concepts to Emphasize:  • Risk – A risk factor is any variable that precedes a negative outcome of interest and increases the chances that the outcome will occur.  Risk does not mean that the negative outcome will occur.    • Resilience – A resilience factor is any variable that increases one’s ability to avoid negative outcomes, despite being at risk for adjustment problems  • Resilience in not a universal or fixed attribute in a child, but varies according to the type of stress experienced by the child, as well as the context of the stress. Examples of Resilience & Protective Factors • Child Characteristics  -- good intellectual functioning  -- appealing, sociable, easygoing disposition  -- self-efficacy, self-confidence, high self-esteem  -- good coping skills  -- talents  • Family Characteristics  -- close relationships to caring parents  -- authoritative parenting (warmth, structure, high expectations)  -- socioeconomic advantages  -- connections to extended supportive family  -- religious faith  • School & Community Characteristics  -- adults outside of the family who take a positive interest in the child  -- connections to social organizations  -- attendance at effective schools  Methods & Strategies for Adoptive Parent Preparation and Education • APP&E must take into account information about adult learning styles – i.e., that adults learn best through interactive, multi-method, multi-source approaches rather than simply through lecture format or assigned readings; information should have a direct relevance for their immediate goals  • Typical Preparation & Education   -- Individual preparation to explore client’s motives, attitudes,    expectations, and personal history, as well as to present information on    the prospective adopted child   -- Group sessions focusing on general adoption information, as well as    exposure to experienced adoptive parents, adult adoptees, birth parents   -- Videos, online courses, webinars, assigned readings   -- Exposure to relevant community resources Methods & Strategies (con’t) • Issue: Many adoptive parents aren’t ready to hear what is being presented – Personal vulnerabilities  – Strong sense of self & capacity to parent  • Issue:  Don’t know the best methods/strategies for adoptive parent preparation & training;  need to develop evidence-based approaches to training and education  Question:  What strategy should be used for validating any specific preparation & training program?  What is/are the appropriate outcome variables of interest?   Summary: Long Term Goals of Adoptive Parent Preparation,  Education & Support • Helping parents  -- view the world of adoption through their children’s eyes  -- develop realistic expectations about themselves and their children  -- develop a range of strategies for managing their children’s behavior  -- learn about the relevant resources that are available in their community  -- become open to accepting help   -- develop the knowledge to explain their children’s needs to others  -- learn to advocate for their children’s needs  -- learn about the need for self-care  -- foster healthy, loving, nurturing, and satisfying relationships with their    children 

Preparing, Educating, and Supporting Adoptive Parents:  What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

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Preparing, Educating, and Supporting Adoptive Parents: What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

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