Adopted Children’s Behavioral Adjustment Over Time: Pre-Adoption Experiences and Adoptive Parenting

Abstract

We tested whether adoptive parenting played a role in the association between pre-adoption experiences and children’s adaptive (responsiveness) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, attention and sleep problems) behavioral adjustment over time. Ten-year-old girls, adopted at 13 months from institutional care ( n = 50) or foster care ( n = 42) in China to the Netherlands, participated 2 months (Time 1, N = 92), 6 months (Time 2, N = 92), and 9 years after adoption (Time 3, N = 87). At Times 1 and 2, the adoptees showed significantly fewer behavioral problems in many areas than non-adopted youth, with medium to large effect sizes. At Time 3, the adoptees showed similar rates of behavioral problems as non-adopted youth, with the exception of somewhat elevated levels of internalizing problems. Pre-adoption experiences were not associated with their behavioral adjustment. Furthermore, adoptive parenting did not moderate the association between pre-adoption experiences and behavioral adjustment over time. Nevertheless, the finding that the adoptees generally did not show above-average levels of behavioral problems illustrates that adoption had a positive impact on their development.