Providing Adaptation Solutions to the Problems Faced by Adoptive Families.

BACKGROUND: Adoption is frequently viewed as a way to complete the family because of the infertility that some families experience and the desire for kids and teenagers, especially orphans, to have a loving family. AIMS: This work intends to identify and propose adaptation solutions to address the psychological problems faced by adoptive families. By doing so, it is hoped that the mental health and overall well-being of individuals and society as a whole will be enhanced. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the first stage of this study, the grounded theory approach based on Strauss and Corbin's methodology was used to interview representatives of adoptive families in Iran in 2022 and identify the problems they experience. In the second stage, the same approach and methodology were used to interview representatives of experts. In the second stage, the results of the first stage were presented to a sample of purposefully selected experts, who subsequently proposed solutions for the families to adapt to their problems. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software (VERBI Software, Berlin, Germany). Ethical requirements were followed at every stage of the study. RESULTS: Four problem categories were identified in the first step of the study: legal-psychological problems, problems related to the growth of the child in an environment of social harm, attitude and worldview, and the resilience of the adoptive couple. In the second step of the study, four groups of solutions for psychological adjustment were extracted: explaining the issue of what, how, and why of adoption (correct identification of the problems faced by adoptive families, clarification of concepts and demystification, the need for research to address other gaps in the knowledge infrastructure, and the importance of critical thinking education), operational solutions (supervising the adoption database to become more efficient, unitization of adoption national institutes in each province, selection of officials based on both factors of professional and complete mental health, alignment of the provisions and other related legal matters between the involved institutions, and utilization of media influence are recommended, interactional solutions for family resilience (cognitive-therapeutic interactions for mental health based on flexibility, raising the family's social capacity through active counseling, improving problem-solving skills, fostering family self-efficacy, creating purposefulness, and appropriate beliefs to predict a bright future), attitude-changing solutions (redefining social norms and facilitating the adoption of desired attitudes by employing social psychology principles, exploiting the power of media and influential figures, employing techniques derived from the psychology of learning, establishing conducive conditions within the framework of individuals' cognitive dissonance to modify their attitudes, and employing persuasion strategies). CONCLUSION: Legislators and law enforcers, adoptive families, psychologists and consultants working in this field, and physicians specializing in infertility treatment can benefit from the findings of this study.

A Retrospective Study on Adoptive Parenthood in the First Year after the Adoption: The Role of Parents' Attachment and Empathy on Communicative Openness.

Communicative openness (CO) defines the willingness of parents and children to explore the significance of adoption. Especially in the first year of adoption, CO could be challenging for adoptive parents, who are influenced by personal characteristics. Using a retrospective assessment, we investigated parents' communicative experiences in the first year of adoption and whether these are affected by romantic attachment and empathy. In the study, 290 adoptive parents (females = 73%, mean age 50 years) filled (a) an ad hoc questionnaire for CO, (b) Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) for attachment, and the (c) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) for empathy. During the first year, most parents reported difficulties in controlling their emotions and understanding their children's emotions. Parents with an avoidant attachment and personal distress in empathy were more likely to feel fatigued in sharing and controlling personal feelings and understanding their children's feelings. Open adoption-related communication is a complex and challenging process for adoptive parents, which can be facilitated or not by individual characteristics such as avoidant attachment and personal distress in emotional situations. These results could help develop psychological interventions targeting adoptive parents during the first year after the child enters the family system.

Family intervention in the initial adaptation of adoptive families: systematic review / Intervenção familiar na adaptação Inicial das famílias adotivas: revisão sistemática / Intervención familiar en la adaptación Inicial de las familias Adoptivas: revisión sistemática

Considering the importance of mapping family interventions practices aimed specifically to adoption, this study sought to identify through a systematic review, how family intervention models for adoptive families are structured in initial adaptation with children from 0 to 6 years old. Four databases were consulted, which led to 9.143 results: Google Scholar (n=8.056), Science Direct (n=814), SciELO (n=43) and PsycINFO (n=230). Seven articles considered pertinent to the proposal of this study were included. As a result, it was identified that most part of the interventions were not systematically described. Although promising results were indicated, replication would not be viable due to the lack of detailing of the performed practices. There was no hegemony in the choice of intervention models. Also, it was indicated that the specificity for adoption in the interventions analyzed is not clear. (AU)

Pensando na importância do mapeamento da prática de intervenção familiar voltada especificamente para a adoção, o presente estudo buscou identificar, por meio da revisão sistemática, como estão estruturados e aplicados os modelos de intervenção familiar para as famílias adotivas na adaptação inicial com as crianças de 0 a 6 anos. Para tanto, foram consultadas quatro bases de dados que levaram a 9.143 resultados: Google Scholar (n=8.056), Science Direct (n=814), SciELO (n=43), PsycINFO (n=230). Sete artigos foram considerados pertinentes à proposta deste estudo. Como resultado, identificou-se que as intervenções não estavam, em sua maioria, sistematicamente descritas. Apesar de resultados promissores serem indicados, a replicação não seria viável pela falta de detalhamentos das práticas realizadas. Ressalta-se que não houve homogeneidade na escolha dos modelos de intervenção. Por fim, destaca-se que não fica clara a especificidade voltada para adoção nas intervenções analisadas. (AU)

Pensando en la importancia de mapear la práctica de intervención familiar orientada específicamente a la adopción, el presente estudio buscó identificar, a través de una revisión sistemática, cómo se estructuran y aplican los modelos de intervención familiar para familias adoptivas en la adaptación inicial con niños de 0 a 6 años. Para ello, se consultaron cuatro bases de datos que arrojaron 9.143 resultados: Google Scholar (n=8.056), Science Direct (n=814), SciELO (n=43), PsycINFO (n=230). Siete artículos se consideraron relevantes para el propósito de este estudio. En su mayor parte, las intervenciones no se describían sistemáticamente. A pesar de los resultados prometedores, la replicación no sería factible debido a la falta de detalles de las prácticas realizadas. Cabe destacar que no hubo homogeneidad en la elección de los modelos de intervención. Por último, se señaló que no está clara la especificidad dirigida a la adopción en las intervenciones analizadas. (AU)

A história pregressa da criança e o processo de revelação da adoção, na perspectiva de pais adotivos / The child's history past and the adoption revelation process, from the perspective of adoptive parents / La historia pasada del niño y el proceso de revelación de la adopción, desde la perspectiva de los padres adoptivos

O presente artigo teve como objetivo compreender a história pregressa da criança e o processo de revelação da adoção na perspectiva de pais adotivos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de campo, qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória, que utilizou como método o estudo de caso. Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com duas mães e um pai adotivos. Os dados foram analisados por meio da análise do conteúdo de Minayo. Observou-se que as histórias das crianças e/ou o acesso dos pais a essas, mostraram-se com questões muito particulares, mediante a disponibilidade dos órgãos de proteção em passar informações sobre esse passado. A maioria dos pais demonstrou interesse em revelar a adoção, entretanto, a questão apareceu vinculada a insegurança, posto que, além de não terem tido acesso a informações sobre a história pregressa de seus filhos, os pais demonstraram dificuldades em lidar com o passado da criança, dados que revelam a importância do psicólogo para auxiliar adotantes na elaboração de conteúdos vinculados a experiência adotiva, dentre eles, suas próprias angustias vinculadas ao medo de perder seu filho, em virtude da camuflagem: família biológica x família adotiva.

This article aimed to understand the child's past history and the process of revelation of adoption from the perspective of adoptive parents. It is a research field qualitative, descriptive and exploratory, which used the case study as a method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two adoptive mothers and fathers. The results were analyzed through of the analysis of the content of Minayo. It was observed that the children's stories and/or the parents' access to them, showed themselves with very particular issues, due to the availability of the protection organs, associated with the cases, to pass on information about this past. Most parents showed interest in revealing the adoption, however, the issue was linked to insecurity, since, in addition to not having access to information about their children's previous story, parents showed difficulties in dealing with the child's past, data that reveal the importance of the psychologist to assist adopters in the elaboration of contents linked to the adoptive experience, among them, yours anxieties linked to the fear of losing their child, due to the camouflage: biological family x adoptive family.

Buscamos entender cómo los padres adoptivos significan la historia pasada de los niños y su revelación. Se trata de una investigación de campo cualitativa, descriptiva y exploratoria, que utilizó el estudio de caso como método. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas con dos madres y padres adoptivos. Los datos fueron analizados a la luz del análisis del contenido de Minayo. Se observó que las historias de los niños y/o el acceso de los padres a ellas, se mostraron con problemáticas muy particulares, debido a la disponibilidad de los órganos de protección, asociados a los casos, para transmitir información sobre este pasado. La mayoría de los padres mostraron interés en revelar la adopción, sin embargo, el problema parecía estar relacionado con la inseguridad, ya que, además de no tener acceso a información sobre la historia pasada de sus hijos, los padres demostraron dificultades para lidiar con el pasado del niño, datos que revelan la importancia del psicólogo para ayudar a los adoptantes en la elaboración de contenidos vinculados a la experiencia adoptiva, entre ellos, sus propias ansiedades ligadas al miedo a perder a su hijo, debido al camuflaje: familia biológica x familia adoptiva.

Talking about the Birth Family since the Beginning: The Communicative Openness in the New Adoptive Family.

Communicative openness within the adoptive family changes over time and helps the child explore his/her history. We aimed to evaluate whether adoptive families communicate about specific adoption-related themes from the beginning of their lives as a family. We created an instrument to track the communication process during the first year of adoption, involving a sample of 537 internationally adopted children (313 males, 224 females, mean age of adoption: 4.9 years) at two time points: six (T1) and twelve (T2) months after adoption. Our results suggest that in the first year of placement, children express memories about the past but tend to not speak about their birth families. We discovered a significant difference (Wald test = 4.889; p = 0.027) in communication about the biological family between the two points. The presence of adoptive parents who speak about it impacts the child's questions about the past (exp (B) = 2.452, p = 0.006) and whether the child speaks about his/her biological family (exp (B) = 2.373; p = 0.017). Then, in the first year of adoption, the presence of an adoptive parent who communicates openly helps the child to ask questions and share his/her thoughts.

Improving Access to Trauma-Informed Adoption Services: Applying a Developmental Trauma Framework.

Foster and adopted children often experience multiple traumatic and adverse experiences. A growing body of literature indicates the negative impact of trauma on developmental milestones and brain development, which supports the need to address complex trauma among this vulnerable population of foster and adopted youth. This paper presents an overview of the unique needs of children adopted from the foster care system from the perspective of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), complex trauma, and developmental trauma disorder (DTD). There is an increasing number of evidence-based trauma-focused services and interventions for children and youth. However, many adoptive parents have limited trauma-informed training and limited access to trauma-informed and adoption-competent professionals, particularly long-term supports across developmental stages, making them ill-prepared to meet the needs of children in their care. This paper contributes to the understanding of how access to these trauma-focused services can be increased through new technologies, to better prepare and empower adoptive parents to deal effectively with difficult adoption issues when they arise and to improve outcomes for children and youth adopted from the public child welfare system. Several innovative approaches toward this end include harnessing technology to: (1) improve access to suitable adoption resources, (2) improve mechanisms to track critical events, behaviors, emotions, functional abilities, strengths, etc., in order to determine timely, on-demand contextual services, and (3) extend professional, supportive environments beyond the adoptive family context by proposing the use of technology to build interdisciplinary, virtual community partners.

Possíveis aplicações da técnica de role-play no atendimento a famílias adotantes / Applications of role-play technique in adoptive families counseling

Famílias adotantes estão em evidência nos contextos midiático e científico, havendo necessidade de atenção da psicologia para estes sujeitos. A terapia cognitivo-comportamental pode ser aplicada em diferentes situações, sendo uma abordagem de intervenção possível nas demandas dessas famílias. Utiliza-se de um conjunto de técnicas de intervenção diversificado, entre elas, a técnica de role-play, que consiste na dramatização de situações do cotidiano com fins terapêuticos. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever as possíveis aplicações da técnica de role-play no atendimento a famílias adotantes. Optou-se por uma pesquisa qualitativa exploratória descritiva de caráter bibliográfico. Os dados coletados foram registrados em fichas de catalogação e analisados por meio da síntese integradora. Constatou-se a possibilidade do uso da técnica de role-play em diferentes momentos do processo de adoção, auxiliando na construção e aprendizagem de estratégias adaptativas no enfrentamento das demandas de pais, filhos e profissionais. Sugerem-se novos estudos, explorando possibilidades dessa técnica.(AU)

Adoptive families are in evidence in the media and scientific contexts, requiring psychologist's attention. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be applied in different situations, being utilized as a support to the adoptive families. Among its diversified intervention techniques, is the role-play, which consists in the dramatization of daily situations with therapeutic purposes. The aim of this study was to describe possible applications of the role-play technique with adoptive families. It was designed as a bibliographic descriptive exploratory qualitative research. The data were registered in cataloging sheets and analyzed through integrative synthesis The possibility of using the role-play technique in different moments of the adoption process was verified, assisting in the construction and learning of adaptive coping strategies of parents, children and professionals. Further studies are suggested, exploring possibilities of this technique.(AU)

Aspectos relacionados à adoção na percepção de acadêmicos de psicologia / Psychology academics' perception of aspects related to adoption

A adoção constitui-se em um modo de devolver à criança ou ao adolescente a oportunidade de se desenvolver em um ambiente de convivência familiar. Foi objetivo deste artigo investigar aspectos relacionados à adoção na percepção de acadêmicos de Psicologia. Participaram 47 acadêmicos do curso de Psicologia de uma faculdade do norte de Santa Catarina, com idade média de 27,35 anos. Foi utilizado um questionário semiestruturado para coleta de dados e feita a análise semântica das respostas qualitativas e geradas medidas descritivas e o teste t de Student para as variáveis quantitativas. Os resultados apontaram que a maioria dos participantes, caso pretendesse à adoção, não teria perfil preestabelecido em relação ao adotado. Os participantes também associaram adoção, em primeiro lugar, à oportunidade de dar amor ao adotado e, em relação aos níveis de concordância com mitos e preconceitos, não se observou diferença estatística entre os alunos iniciantes e concluintes.(AU)

Adoption is a way of giving back to the child or adolescent the opportunity to develop in a family interaction environment. This research aimed to investigate psychology students' perception of aspects related to adoption. The sample was composed of 47 Psychology students, with an average age of 27.35 years, from a northern Santa Catarina college. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data analysis was done through semantic analysis of qualitative responses, while descriptive measures and the Student's t test were generated for quantitative variables. The results indicated that most of the participants, if they intended to adopt, would not have a pre-established profile in relation to the adopted child. The participants also associated adoption, in first place, as an opportunity to give love to the adoptee. In relation to the levels of agreement regarding myths and prejudices, no statistical difference was observed between first semester students and graduates.(AU)

Changes in trajectories of physical growth in a domestic adoptees sample: A preliminary study.

Ferrara P, Cutrona C, Guadagno C, Amodeo ME, Del-Vescovo E, Ianniello F, Petitti T. Changes in trajectories of physical growth in a domestic adoptees sample: A preliminary study. Turk J Pediatr 2018; 60: 464-466. Internationally adopted infants experienced profound institutional deprivation in early infancy. Adoption may have a positive effect on child development, providing a massive catch-up growth in the developmental parameters. In this preliminary study we examined the effect of family deprivation on abandoned children placed in high quality foster care during infancy. We also investigated the presence of a growth delay in Italian domestic adoptees at the time of family placement and the potential physical recovery after adoption. Anthropometric measures (weight, length or height /head circumference) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were measured on arrival (T0) and 6 (T1), 12 (T2) and 24 months (T3) after adoption. The results show moderate delays in physical growth on the children`s arrival into the adoptive family and a significant catch-up growth in all auxological parameters from T < sub > 0 < /sub > to T < sub > 3 < /sub > . This is one of few Italian studies that points out a positive change in trajectories of growth after child adoption.

Understanding the strategies employed to cope with increased numbers of AIDS-orphaned children in families in rural settings: a case of Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to understand the strategies employed by families that adopt Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-orphaned children (Adoptive families) for coping with and mitigating the impact of AIDS in Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania. High numbers of AIDS-orphaned children aged below 18 years in Mbeya Region have led to increasing the burden of families caring for them. Understanding the coping strategies and impact mitigation activities employed by adoptive families is important in order to develop programmes to help them. METHODS: This study employed a qualitative method for data collection (one-on-one in-depth interviews). The respondents included 12 male and 8 female heads of families that provide essential care for AIDS-orphaned children in Mbeya Rural District in Tanzania. The framework approach was used to analyse the data that were collected from 15 July to 15 August 2010. RESULTS: The study findings revealed that adoptive families faced several challenges including financial constraints due to increased needs for basic essentials such as health care expenses, school fees and food. Further impacts on adoptive families included shortage of work opportunities and limited time to address these challenges. To mitigate these challenges, adoptive families employed a range of coping strategies including selling family assets and renting out parts of cultivable land for extra cash. Task reallocation which involved the AIDS-orphaned children entering the labour force was also employed as a strategy to mitigate challenges and involved de-enrolling of children from schools so they could take part in income-generating activities in order to earn supplementary family income. The creation of additional income-generating activities such as poultry farming were other coping mechanisms employed, and these received support from both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governmental organisations, including the Isangati Agricultural Development Organization (local NGO) and the local government respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The current study identified challenges that adoptive families as well as the AIDS-orphaned children themselves faced in Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania. Recognition of these issues highlights the need for targeted interventions to address the underlying social determinants of human immunodeficiency virus or HIV and AIDS in affected populations in order to prevent further imposition of social, cultural and economic disadvantages on families that provide care for AIDS-orphaned children and the children themselves. These findings may prove useful in provoking discussions that may lead to HIV/AIDS prevention and the development of broader mitigation strategies to alleviate the impact of this scourge on families and communities in rural Tanzania, and in similar settings across the world.

Adoption, Foreign-Born Status, and Children's Progress in School.

Using recent data from the American Community Survey, the author investigated how the dynamics of immigration influence our understanding of the adoption-schooling relationship. The results suggest that implications of immigrant and adoption statuses could be understood within specific familial contexts. Thus, no statistical differences were found in the outcomes of foreign-born adoptees in U.S. native families and their peers with immigrant parents. Instead, the most favorable patterns of schooling progress were found among U.S.-born adoptees living in immigrant families. Among immigrants, the analysis indicated similar patterns of achievement among Hispanic and White adoptees that are inconsistent with the predictions of segmented assimilation theory. However, there was a Hispanic disadvantage relative to Whites among immigrant children living with biological and stepparents. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for kinship selection and assimilation processes and the contention that alternative theoretical frameworks should be used to understand the implications of adoption status.

A configuração dos vínculos na adoção: uma atualização no contexto Latino-Americano / The configuration of bonds in adoption: an update in the Latin-American context

Este estudo tem por objetivo atualizar a literatura científica sobre adoção no contexto latino-americano, focalizando os vínculos estabelecidos entre pais, filhos e irmãos. Foram consultadas as bases LILACS, PEPSIC e SciELO, no período de 1998 a 2008. Foram encontrados 124 trabalhos, dos quais selecionaram-se 13 para análise. O corpus da pesquisa foi submetido à análise de conteúdo, que permitiu destacar motivações para adoção, construção da parentalidade nos pais adotivos e seus significados, adoção tardia e relações fraternas. Os artigos recuperados abordam a construção de vínculos na adoção, a partir do nascimento do desejo de adotar, porém poucos abordam especificamente as relações fraternas na família. Essa temática deve ser explorada por novas pesquisas, dada a importância da presença de irmãos na constituição da personalidade. É necessário ampliar a compreensão acerca da construção de vínculos entre pais e filhos, assim como entre irmãos nas famílias constituídas por adoção.(AU)

The objective is to present an upgrade of the scientific literature on adoption in the Latin- American context, focusing the relationships established between parents, children and brothers. LILACS, PEPSICc and SciELO databases had been consulted, in the period of 1998-2008. 124 papers had been found, of which 13 had been selected for analysis. The corpus of the research was submitted to the analysis of content, that allowed to detach motivations for adoption, construction of the parenthood in the adoptive parents and its meanings, delayed adoption and brothers' relations. The recouped articles approach specifically the construction of relationships in the adoption, from the birth of the desire to adopt, however few approach the relations between brothers in the family. It is necessary to extend the understanding concerning the construction of relationships between parents and children, as well as between brothers in the families constituted from adoption.(AU)