Browse all studies
Entries in alphabetical order. Return to search.
Ask the Adoptee Rights Assistant
Please leave out names and identifying details.
Historic forced adoption - scoping study: final report
2023 · Scotland
The study included interviews with 37 people affected by historic forced adoption, including 19 adoptees, alongside stakeholders and local-authority survey responses.
Home learning during the Covid-19 lockdown: The impact of school closures on care experienced children
2020 · United Kingdom
An April 2020 survey obtained 674 parent and carer responses about care-experienced children during school closures. Reports about children included emotional distress, anxiety and limited additional school support. More than half of secondary-aged pupils were described as calmer without school. Experiences varied, with some children encountering greater difficulties at home.
How do adopted adults see the significance of adoption and being a parent in their life stories?
2023 · England
Forty adopted adults who were parents took part in life-story interviews examining adoption and parenthood across their lives.
How do children and young people who have been adopted experience peer relationships.
2018 · United Kingdom
This clinical psychology doctorate examines adopted children and young people’s experiences of peer relationships. The university’s thesis catalogue confirms the author, title, year and degree. An accessible abstract or full thesis was not reviewed, so methods, sample details and findings are not summarised.
How do social workers in adoption services in England conceptualise child and adolescent mental health?: A qualitative study
2025 · England
Seventeen adoption social workers in southern England were interviewed during 2023–2024. Thematic analysis examined how they understood adopted children’s mental health and recommended interventions. Recommendations reflected knowledge, provider experience, parent preferences, availability and funding; research evidence had a less prominent role in their accounts.
HPA axis dysregulation in adult adoptees twenty years after severe institutional deprivation in childhood
2017 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
Researchers measured daily cortisol in 57 young adult adoptees, comparing those exposed to Romanian institutional deprivation with UK adoptees. More than six months of deprivation was associated with an absent cortisol awakening response and a flatter early-morning pattern. The analysis did not find evidence that this cortisol pattern mediated emotional problems in this subsample.
Hyporesponsive reward anticipation in the basal ganglia following severe institutional deprivation early in life
2010 · United Kingdom
Twelve adolescents adopted into UK families after severe early deprivation in Romania and eleven non-adopted comparison participants completed a monetary-reward task during functional brain imaging. The adopted group showed less recruitment of the striatum during reward anticipation, despite similar task accuracy and response speed.
I. Investigating the impact of early institutional deprivation on development: background and research strategy of the English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) study
2010 · United Kingdom
This chapter describes the rationale and research strategy of the English and Romanian Adoptees study, covering Romanian and UK adoptees first assessed at ages four or six. It outlines early assessment measures and summarises earlier follow-ups before the adolescent assessment.
Identifying Perspectives on Life Story Work with Looked-after and Adopted Children
2015 · United Kingdom
The reviewed repository abstract describes a systematic review of life story work with adopted and looked-after children. Qualitative studies described perceived benefits, while the limited quantitative evidence showed little evidence of benefit. Life storybooks were the most common approach described.
Identity as experienced and explored in therapy with adopted children: An IPA study
2021 · United Kingdom
Eight therapists in a specialist CAMHS clinic were interviewed about adopted children’s identity. Interpretative phenomenological analysis described themes around evolving selfhood and different facets of identity. Therapists reported trauma-related difficulties, fragmented self-perceptions, family adjustment and stigma, and valued space to reflect on their work.
Identity, Race, Religion and Adoption: The Public and Legal View
2004 · England and Wales
The researchers used more than 1,200 questionnaires from a stratified sample of the public in England and Wales to examine views about race, religion and cultural identity in adoption. They analysed how views varied with respondents’ characteristics and compared public perceptions with adoption law. The abstract describes the questions and analysis but does not report the detailed results.
II. Methods and measures used for follow-up at 15 years of the English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study
2010 · England / Romania (adopted into UK families)
This methods chapter describes the ERA follow-up at age 15, including participation, earlier assessments, cognitive tests, assessments of deprivation-related difficulties, genotyping and statistical analysis. It also describes assessments relevant to possible autism at ages 18–20. It documents how the cohort was investigated rather than presenting a separate study with a new participant sample.
III. Deprivation-specific psychological patterns
2010 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
This separately indexed empirical research chapter forms part of the ERA adolescent follow-up monograph. Its title identifies the research topic, but the indexed record supplies no abstract. Findings are not summarised because the underlying chapter was not reviewed.
Improving Adoption Services for Adults: end of project report and recommendations
2025 · England
This project combined consultations with adults affected by adoption, professional working groups and examination of service and legal arrangements. Around 25 people with lived experience, including 15 adoptees, contributed. The report describes barriers to records, tracing and therapeutic support, including costs, delays and insensitive responses, and develops recommendations for adult services.
In Search of Origins: The Experiences of Adopted People
1973 · Scotland, UK
The research examined adopted adults' knowledge of their origins, identity, attitudes towards adoption information and experiences or wishes concerning searching. The work formed part of the evidence base in debates about adult adoptees' access to birth information.
Inattention/overactivity following early severe institutional deprivation: presentation and associations in early adolescence
2008 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
Researchers followed inattention and overactivity from ages six to eleven in Romanian adoptees and UK adoptee controls using parent and teacher ratings. These difficulties remained associated with longer institutional deprivation and overlapped with conduct problems, disinhibited attachment and executive-function difficulties.
Inattentive/overactive children with histories of profound institutional deprivation compared with standard ADHD cases: a brief report
2008 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
Researchers compared 13 deprivation-exposed children with inattention/overactivity, 20 clinical ADHD cases and 22 ERA comparison children around age 13. Boys in the deprivation group had symptom profiles resembling clinical ADHD; girls showed more symptom remission. Neuropsychological difficulties were greater in the deprivation-related group.
Increased risk of suicidal behaviour in non-European international adoptees decreases with age
2020 · Sweden
This later Swedish study found relative suicide risk was highest in early adulthood and declined with age, while suicide-attempt risk remained elevated. Later birth cohorts and infant adoptions generally showed lower relative risks.
Independent evidence review of post-adoption support interventions
2016 · England; international evidence
Researchers reviewed 15 therapeutic approaches used in adoption support through database searches, appraisal and expert consultation. They found limited adoption-specific evaluation evidence, particularly from the UK. Some interventions had been studied for particular conditions or other populations, which did not establish the same effects for adopted children.
Infant Adoption in England: A Longitudinal Account of Social and Cognitive Progress
2000 · England
A longitudinal study followed 52 children adopted in England before six months of age, assessing social and cognitive progress at ages four and six. The abstract reports positive social and intellectual progress but does not provide numerical outcome estimates. Parent mental health and satisfaction were additional topics; this database summary focuses on child outcomes.