Race and bicultural socialization in the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States of America in the adoptions of children from India.

A cross-national sample of 622 internationally adopted children from India with White parents in The Netherlands (n = 409), Norway (n = 146), and the United States (n = 67) was used to contrast country-specific bicultural socialization (BCS) practices among families of transracial intercountry adoption. The 3 countries vary in their degrees of minority (US > Netherlands > Norway) and Indian populations (US > Norway > Netherlands). The current study examined parental survey trends among BCS practices, children's negative encounters about adoption, racial and positive discrimination, and parental worry about these issues. Country-specific differences were revealed: The United States and Norway (greatest Indian populations) reported the greatest similarity in BCS practices, classmates being a source of negative reactions/racial discrimination, and parental worry. The American sample encountered greater negative reactions to adoption from others; Dutch children experienced the least negative reactions from others overall, yet as in the United States (samples with the greatest minority heterogeneity) they still noted significant experiences of racial discrimination. Country-specific sociopolitical perceptions about adoption, ethnicity/race, and immigration are considered as factors that may have been used to inform parenting practices that facilitate children's biculturalism into family life (i.e., adoptive family stigma, percentages of Indian/minority populations, immigration policy trends). Concluding, cross-national research such as the current study may help intercountry adoption policymakers and practitioners to better understand and inform BCS practices in adoptive families.

Impact of early childhood adversities on adult psychiatric disorders: a study of international adoptees.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated international adoptees who were taken out of their problematic environments as a consequence of their adoption to determine the effects of early adversities on adult psychiatric disorders, and to study whether these effects emerged de novo after childhood. METHODS: A total of 1,364 adoptees (63.5% of the baseline sample) were followed. Parents provided information about early adversities prior to adoption, and mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. In adulthood, adoptees completed a standardized interview, generating DSM-IV diagnoses. RESULTS: Children who experienced multiple adversities had an increased risk of having anxiety disorders (OR = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.11-4.45), mood disorders (OR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.00-4.86) or substance abuse/dependence (OR = 3.81; 95% CI: 1.62-8.98) in adulthood. Several effects remained significant after correction for mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Severe early adversities increase the risk of adult psychopathology, even when children are taken out of their problematic environments. Results suggest that psychiatric disorders may arise de novo after childhood due to early experiences.

Young adult international adoptees' search for birth parents.

This study examines international adoptees and factors associated with searching for birth parents. A total of 1,417 international adoptees in The Netherlands, aged 24 to 30 years, were divided into 4 groups: uninterested nonsearchers, interested nonsearchers, searchers, and reunited searchers. In total, 32% of adoptees had searched. Although the majority of searchers were well-adjusted, they had more problems--mainly internalizing problems--than uninterested nonsearchers. These problems, however, were not caused by the search itself. It is concluded that searching is the product of natural curiosity influenced by external factors such as the divorce of adoptive parents and the options for searching.

Psychiatric disorders in young adult intercountry adoptees: an epidemiological study.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalences of psychiatric disorders in young adult intercountry adoptees and nonadopted young adults from the general population were compared. METHOD: In the Netherlands, a total of 1,484 young adult intercountry adoptees (72.5% of the original sample at age 10-15 years) and 695 nonadopted subjects (78.1% of the original sample) of comparable age from the general population were interviewed by using a standardized psychiatric interview generating DSM-IV diagnoses. RESULTS: The adopted young adults were 1.52 times as likely to meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder as the nonadopted young adults; the 95% confidence interval (CI) was 1.15-2.00. The adoptees were 2.05 (95% CI=1.32-3.17) times as likely to meet the criteria for substance abuse or dependence. The adopted men were 3.76 (95% CI=1.69-8.37) times as likely to have a mood disorder as nonadopted men, while for women there was no significant difference between adoptees and nonadoptees. No significant difference for the diagnosis of disruptive disorder was found. For all diagnoses together, adoptees with low and middle parental socioeconomic status in childhood did not differ from the comparison subjects, while adoptees with high parental socioeconomic status were 2.17 times (95% CI=1.50-3.13) as likely to meet the criteria for a disorder as nonadoptees with high parental socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Intercountry adoptees run a higher risk of having severe mental health problems in adulthood than nonadoptees of the same age. The risk of later malfunctioning differs for different disorders and different groups of adoptees.

Social functioning of young adult intercountry adoptees compared to nonadoptees.

Using data from a large adoption and general population cohort, we compared the social functioning of 24- to 30-year-old intercountry adoptees with that of same-aged nonadoptees in The Netherlands. Adoptees, compared to nonadoptees, were less likely to have intimate relationships, to live with a partner, and to be married. However, adoptees were not more impaired in their social contacts than nonadoptees. The educational and professional attainment of adoptees was at par with that of the general population. Adopted males showed somewhat less favorable outcomes than adopted females.