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Key stage 2 attainment for children recorded as adopted from care
2014 · England
This analysis linked the 2014 school census to earlier primary-school assessment results in England. Children recorded as adopted or under special guardianship or residence orders had lower attainment than the comparison group, but higher attainment than children continuously looked after for at least twelve months.
Knowing Me, Knowing You: Exploring the role of parental sensitivity and mentalization in relationships where adoptive children display aggression and violence and evaluating the impact of a parenting program to support these families.
2025 · United Kingdom
This thesis included quantitative evaluation of a parenting programme involving 35 parents of 53 adopted children aged four to twelve. Measures examined child behaviour and relationships alongside parent variables over time. Some child-behaviour changes were reported, with some comparisons not statistically significant, and parent–child relationships improved.
Knowing where you’ve come from: adoption reunion narratives
2000 · Scotland
Research in Scotland examined adult adoptees' reunion narratives and themes of kinship, biography, memory and origins.
Language development after extreme childhood deprivation: a case study
1998 · England
This conference paper describes language development in a child who moved from a Romanian institution to England at six years old. Developmental and educational accounts describe expanding speech alongside continuing grammatical difficulties. The authors use the case to examine a theory of the timing of language development.
Leveraging family data for complex trait genomics
2020 · UK datasets; regional breakdown not provided in abstract
This doctorate combined family-based designs with genetic data to study complex traits. Its adoption chapter examined whether genetic scores associated with educational attainment also capture environmental influences from relatives. Other chapters investigated family genomic data and emotional traits. The thesis abstract describes the approach but does not report numerical findings from the adoption comparison.
Life Stories of International Romanian Adoptees: A Narrative Study
2017 · International sample including Britain (3 of 10)
Ten adults adopted from Romania described their life stories in interviews. Narrative analysis traced how they described their adoption, developed a sense of self, sought information and negotiated Romanian and adoptive-country identities. The accounts included varied ways of relating these identities and using social media to explore origins.
Life story work with looked after and adopted children: how professional training and experience determine perceptions of its value
2016 · United Kingdom (regional coverage not specified in abstract)
Researchers asked 29 people from professional and service-user backgrounds to rank 57 statements about life story work. Their views formed three groups: a supportive coherent narrative, ongoing child-led work rooted in current relationships, and an adaptable record of the child’s history. All groups prioritised helping children express and manage feelings arising during the work.
Linking and matching: a survey of adoption agency practice in England and Wales
2010 · England and Wales
This survey examined how adoption agencies linked children with prospective families and made matching decisions. It was the first stage of a larger investigation of family finding and matching. The repository abstract describes variation in practice, costs and outcomes, and differing practitioner views. It does not provide numerical outcome estimates.
Linking pre- and post-adoption records for research in anonymised form in a data safe haven
2021 · England and Wales
The study examined the legal and practical issues involved in linking adoptees' pre- and post-adoption records for longitudinal research, including the effect of NHS-number changes and public views about anonymised linkage.
Local Authority and Voluntary Adoption Agencies' Arrangements for Supporting Adoptive Families: A Survey of UK Practice
2003 · United Kingdom research context (sample geography not specified in abstract)
A UK survey examined how local authority and voluntary adoption agencies organised support for adoptive families. It found changes in service delivery alongside continuing difficulties in equitable, timely access to specialist help.
Long‐term foster care or adoption? The evidence examined
2002 · International / United Kingdom
This literature review compared long-term fostering and adoption across several aspects of permanence and outcomes. Reviewed studies described greater emotional security, belonging and wellbeing among adopted young people than those in long-term foster care. The paper also examined placement breakdown and difficulties comparing the two pathways.
Longitudinal change in parenting associated with developmental delay and catch-up
2001 · United Kingdom (regional breakdown not specified)
Researchers observed adoptive parent–child interactions at ages 4 and 6 in a study of children adopted from Romania and an early-placed UK comparison group. Longer deprivation was modestly associated with relationship quality, partly through developmental delay. Children showing cognitive catch-up also showed the greatest improvement in relationship quality. The analyses suggested that changes in the child were more closely linked to later parenting changes than the reverse.
Longitudinal studies using a "natural experiment" design: the case of adoptees from Romanian institutions
2012 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
This research paper discusses longitudinal natural-experiment methods and analyses ERA adoptees who experienced institutional care without subnutrition. Deprivation-specific difficulties at age 15 were more common than in the comparison group, indicating that the reported pattern was not confined to children who had been undernourished.
Looked after and Adopted Children: How Should Specialist CAMHS Be Involved?
2010 · United Kingdom
Referrals of looked-after and adopted children to a designated child and adolescent mental health team were examined over one year. An independent researcher coded placement, referral reason, decisions and outcomes. Children with indications of likely disorders were accepted, while decisions about attachment and behavioural problems were less consistent.
Making sense of adoption: integration and differentiation from the perspective of adopted children in middle childhood
2012 · England
Forty-three English adoptees aged five to thirteen were interviewed about belonging and understanding adoption. Almost all described closeness to their adoptive families, while half expressed complicated feelings about birth family, including loss or rejection. Over half reported uncomfortable questions or teasing from peers.
Managing Behaviour with Attachment in Mind
2010 · England
An evaluation of a group for adoptive parents and foster carers combined behaviour-management approaches with attachment theory. Pre- and post-group questionnaires indicated improved parent–child relationships. Caregivers also reported reductions in the perceived severity and impact of children’s behavioural concerns.
Many Faces of Openness in Adoption: Perspectives of Adopted Adolescents and Their Parents
2008 · United States
Interviews with 177 adoptive families found openness arrangements were dynamic. Adolescents and adoptive mothers with face-to-face contact reported the greatest satisfaction, while no-contact or stopped-contact groups reported the least; many participants wanted contact to increase rather than decrease.
Mapping the exposome of mental health: exposome-wide association study of mental health outcomes among UK Biobank participants
2025 · United Kingdom
Researchers analysed 294 exposures against mental-health outcomes in 157,298 UK Biobank questionnaire participants, using split-sample screening and multivariable models. Reported childhood adoption was associated with having ever self-harmed in the multivariable analysis. This was one association within a wider study of environmental and personal characteristics.
Matching, Ethnicity and Identity: Reflections on the Practice and Realities of Ethnic Matching in Adoption
2012 · England
This evaluation compared a specialist service placing Black, Asian and dual-heritage children with a general adoption service in the same organisation. It combined placement statistics with staff and adopter interviews. The authors reported that recruiting minority ethnic families could enable placements with families of similar heritage. It examines service practice and matching, rather than measuring adoptees’ later identity or wellbeing.
Mediation and Post-Adoption Contact: The Early Experience of the Post-Adoption Centre Contact Mediation Service
1999 · United Kingdom research context (sample geography not specified in abstract)
A small evaluation examined the first two years of the Post-Adoption Centre’s contact-mediation service. Researchers studied service outcomes and parents’ experiences of negotiating contact between adoptive and birth families. The abstract describes the evaluation but does not state specific outcome findings.