Internalizing symptoms and use of mental health services among domestic adoptees

Mental health is a critical area of concern for adoptees, particularly during adolescence. The use of individual counseling services is one way through which adoptees can gain support and learn coping strategies for their mental health needs. However, for adolescents, parents are often the gatekeepers for access to these services. Using data from the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP), a longitudinal study of domestic infant adoptees, the present study investigated adolescent domestic adoptees' (N = 156, mean age 15.7 years, 52% female) reported levels of internalizing symptoms compared to their mothers' (N = 173) and fathers' (N = 162) reports. The adopted adolescents ranged in age from 11 to 20 years (mean = 15.7). Rates of symptom agreement were compared and examined in relation to the likelihood that the adoptee was currently or had been engaged in individual counseling services in the past year. The group with the highest rate of enrollment in counseling services were those in which the adoptive parent and adoptee agreed that the adoptee was experiencing high rates of internalizing symptoms. Of greatest concern was the finding that a large portion of adolescents reported significant levels of internalizing symptoms while their parent did not, and that many of these adoptees were not receiving any counseling services at that time. The results from this study demonstrate the importance of parent-adolescent reports and the need to improve parent perceptions of adoptee mental health.