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Internationally adopted adults who did not suffer severe early deprivation: the role of appraisal of adoption
- Authors:
- STORSBERGEN Hester E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 32(2), February 2010, pp.191-197.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Little is known about the long-term consequences for the mental health and well-being of international adopted adults. This study focused on a group of adults who had been internationally adopted from Greece to the Netherlands in infancy and now have a mean age of 29 years. Psychological adjustment was examined in 53 adults, internationally adopted by Dutch parents as infants at a mean age of 9 months from the Metera children's home in Greece. At that time, guidelines consistent with attachment theory were followed to ensure relatively favourable quality of childcare in Metera. The adults completed standardised questionnaires on mental health, well-being and self-esteem. The results found that the large majority of the adults were well adjusted, although adopted males reported more depression. Adults who reported a negative appraisal of their adoption reported more problems and less well-being than adults with a positive/neutral appraisal of their adoption. In conclusion, the study did not reveal any major risks with respect to self-reported mental health problems, well-being and self-esteem in adulthood. Further research is needed to invest why adopted men seem somewhat more vulnerable for problems than adopted women.