Tony Tan tan@usf.edu Department of Psychological & Social Foundations College of Education University of South Florida 8-8-2011.
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Tony Tantan@usf.edu
Department of Psychological & Social Foundations
College of Education
University of South Florida
8-8-2011
What I plan to do today:Share the experience that led me to pursue
adoption research.
Report findings from my longitudinal study on children adopted from China.
Discuss the implications of my research findings for orphanage care and post-adoption care.
From Personal Observations to Research1970s-1980s in a village in Sichuan: As a child, often
heard ‘whispering’ about ‘given-away wa-wa’ (wa wa = infant).
Early 1990s in Medical School in Xi’an: First encounter with abandoned children; first learned about international adoption.
Late 1990s in Law School in Beijing: Gradually realized that adoption might be the only viable options for most of the abandoned child.
Early 2000s in Graduate School at Harvard: Realized that Korean adoptees struggled but there was little research.
Research on Chinese AdopteesLanguage
Social-emotional adjustment
Academic performance
Long-term mental health outcomes
Study Design: Children and Family
Time 1 (T1) (2005)
Time 2 (T2) (2007)
Time 3 (T3)(2009)
Age (SD ) 4.9 yrs (2.9) 7.0 yrs (2.9) 8.9 yrs (2.9)
≥ 6 years (%) 30.8% 51.5% 87.2%
N 1079 children (852 families)
869 children(676 families)
751 children (606 families)
Attrition 210 children(176 families)
120 children(70 families)
Retention (%) 79% 80.5% (79.3%) 86.2% (89.5%)
Study Design: MeasuresTime 1(2005)
1. Child Behavior checklist (CBCL).2. Index of pre-adoption adversity: Signs/Symptoms; Developmental delays at adoption; Initial adaptation to adoption.
Time 2(2007)
1. CBCL;2. Social Skills Rating Systems (SSRS)-Teacher
and Parent3. Sleep problems and family sleep arrangement.
Time 3(2009)
1. CBCL;2. Parenting Styles/Dimensions Questionnaire
(PSDQ);3. Social Problem Questionnaire (SPQ) (for family
stress);4. Life Changes since 2007 (e.g., health, moving);5. Saliva Sample (130 children, 80 adoptive
parents) (for 5-HTT and MAO-A).
Results: Language for 1.5-3 years old.
Typically, a child adopted around one year old becomes comparable to a non-adopted age peer by age 2.5 – 3.o years in vocabulary and sentence production.
Age 2.5-3 yo: typical vocabulary size: about 250-300 words.
Language delays: About 16%.
Results: Social-Emotional Adjustment Vast majority adjust very well:
Clinical-level maladjustment: 9-15% (norm: 18-21%).For children with clinical-level maladjustment in 2005,
50-60% persisted into 2007, and 30-40% persisted into 2009.
Preschoolers: better than non-adopted American children;
K-12 children: similar to non-adopted American peers. Major concerns:
attachment problems,sleep problems; difficulties with peer relationships (fear of loss and
abandonment). Waiting child program fares equally well.
Academic PerformanceBetter than non-adopted American children
Parents rated their children’s academic performance less favorably than teachers.
Example: Parent: child is average in reading; Teacher: child is above average in reading.
Long-term Mental HealthUnknown.
Research is ongoing. The adopted children just started entering adolescence in large numbers.
My prediction.Likely to be good overall.Anxiety might be prevalent (due to genetics
and experience).Depression might increase (due to co-morbidity
with anxiety).
What predicts the children’s post-adoption Social-emotional development?Age at adoption: Yes or No?
Severity of adversity before adoption: Yes or No?
Foster care before adoption: Yes or No?
Single-parent or two-parent household: Yes or No?
Parenting styles? Yes or No?
ImplicationsLooking at the adopted Chinese children from a
deficit perspective might not be appropriate;Improvement in orphanage care will likely help the
children adapt , at least initially.Foster care needs to be implemented meaningfully. Parents need to address attachment and sleep
issues proactively.Parents need to vigilantly prepare/train the
children to handle anxiety-provoking situations.Monitoring development in adolescence is
important.
SummaryCBCL ratings remain favorable over time;
SSRS ratings by teacher and parent are both favorable;
Indirect measures of pre-adoption adversity correlate with outcomes better than age at adoption.
Post-adoption environment also impacts adopted children’s adjustment.
AcknowledgementsAdoptive parents and their children.
Colleagues Dr. Kofi Marfo and Robert Dedrick
USF established researcher grant.
Results:CBCL: Preschool-age Adopted Chinese Girls
6.18.2
24.5
7.4 8.3
24.8
7 7.6
23.1
8.7
13.1
33.4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Internal. External. Total.
T1 T2 T3 Norm
***
***
***
***
CBCL: School-age Adopted Chinese Girls
6 5.8
22.4
6.3 6
23.1
5 4.7
18.3
5.9 6.1
22.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
Internal. External. Total CBCL
T1 T2 T3 Norm
** ***
***
***
***
SSRS-Parent Rating: High School
13 14.4 14.917.9
60.2
12.7 14 1317
56.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Cooperation Assertion Self-Control Responsibility Total SSRS
Chinese Norm
**
*
*
Pre-adoption adversity is a good predictor
Internalizing Problems
T1: r=0.17***T2: r=0.11***
T1: r=0.12***
Initial Adaptation to Adoption is a Good Predictor
Refusal/Avoidance
CBCL Total Problems
Externalizing Problems
T3: r = 0.15***
T2: r = 0.07*
T3: r =0.11**
T1: r =0.21***T2: r = 0.11**T3: r = 0.15***
Internalizing Problems
T1: r =0.22***T2: r = 0.15***
T1: r=0.14***
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