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Coping with birthparent loss in adopted children
Daniel W Smith1, David M Brodzinsky
1National Crime Victims Research & Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA. smithdw@musc.edu
Summary
Adopted children’s feelings about birthparent loss impact adjustment. Coping strategies like problem-solving enhance social competence, while avoidance correlates with anxiety and externalizing behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Adoption Studies
- Child Development
Background:
- Investigated adopted children's appraisals of birthparent loss and coping strategies.
- Examined relationships within a stress and coping model of adoption adjustment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand how adopted children's perceptions of birthparent loss and their coping mechanisms influence adjustment.
- To test a stress and coping model in the context of adoption.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed 82 adopted children (ages 8-12) and their parents.
- Assessed children's negative affect, curiosity about birthparents, coping strategies, depression, anxiety, and self-worth.
- Collected parent reports on children's externalizing/internalizing behaviors and social competence.
Main Results:
- Higher negative affect regarding birthparent loss linked to increased depression and lower self-worth.
- Curiosity about birthparents predicted externalizing behaviors.
- Avoidant coping correlated with anxiety and externalizing behaviors; problem-solving coping associated with higher social competence.
Conclusions:
- Findings partially support a stress and coping model for adopted children's adjustment.
- Highlights the role of appraisal and coping in adopted children's well-being.
- Acknowledges limitations in measurement and sampling for generalizability.