Tony Tan [email protected] Department of Psychological & Social Foundations College of Education University of South Florida 8-8-2011.

Tony [email protected]

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.

Supporting DocumentsGraphs with statistical comparisons.

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 Ratings (T2): Preschool Group

SSRS-Parent Rating (T2): Elementary group

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

**

*

*

SSRS-Teacher Rating (T2)

SSRS-Teacher Ratings: Academic Competence

Age at Adoption is not a good predictor

Internalizing Problems

Pre-adoption adversity is a good predictor


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***


T1: r =0.22***T2: r = 0.15***

T1: r=0.14***

Life changes since 2007


T1: r=nsT2: r=ns

T1: r=ns

Authoritative parenting


T1: r=nsT2: r=ns

T1: r=-.14***

Authoritarian Parenting


T1: r=0.14***T2: r=0.17***

T1: r=0.29***

Social Skills Rating Systems (SSRS) Adopted Chinese girls were more likely to

be rated as having “Above Average” overall social competence by teachers than by parents.

Teacher ratings in modest-moderate agreement with parent ratings on social competence.