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Meeting the adoption support needs of adopted adults who have been abused in their adoptive family
2014 · United Kingdom
This paper centres adopted adults who reported abuse or neglect within their adoptive families. It suggests historical abuse and neglect by adoptive family members may have been more common than acknowledged and examines barriers to effective support.
Mental health and behavioural difficulties in adopted children: A systematic review of post-adoption risk and protective factors
2021 · International (UK-led review)
A systematic search of four research databases identified 52 studies examining post-adoption factors associated with adopted children’s mental health or behaviour. The review grouped relevant factors around parents, parent–child relationships and family context, considering their associations with children’s outcomes.
Mental Health in Internationally Adopted Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis
2017 · International
Combines 11 studies covering 17,919 internationally adopted adolescents and over one million non-adopted peers. International adoptees showed higher mental-health problems overall, although results varied by outcome and measurement method. Parent-reported differences were somewhat larger than adoptee self-reports.
Mental Wellbeing Needs and Support for Care‐Experienced Children and Young People in Secondary School and During the Transition to Further Education College
2025 · Wales
Qualitative research in four Welsh local authorities examined mental wellbeing support in secondary schools and further education. Consultations included 22 young people, 17 parents/carers and 23 practitioners; case-study interviews added learners, carers and staff. Findings described transition-related needs, low awareness of adoptee needs and barriers including being singled out and limited staff capacity.
Names and naming in adoption: Birth heritage and family-making
2020 · England and Wales policy context; international reviewed literature
This review examined research about naming in adoption, using database searches, UK research publications and thematic coding. It organised the literature around birth heritage and forming adoptive family identities. Names were connected with cultural identity, birth-family links and belonging. The authors identified limited research directly examining adoptees’ experiences of naming.
Names in adoption law and policy: representations of family, rights and identities
2024 · England
Researchers used critical discourse analysis to examine how English adoption law and policy discuss names. They identified greater emphasis on shared family surnames than children’s first-name identity rights, interpreting omissions and unclear wording as linked to particular representations of family.
Negotiating sibling separation: A study of a method of group work with siblings in the adoption process and organisational responses
2018 · United Kingdom (regional recruitment not established)
This practice-based doctorate examines therapeutic group work with siblings facing transitions and possible separation during permanency planning. The researcher analysed material arising from group work with children and examined her role in organisational conversations, developing a proposed sibling-centred social-work model.
Neurodevelopmental problems in adulthood following severe early deprivation: A qualitative analysis of clinical needs and service user experiences
2024 · United Kingdom; Romania
Interviews with adult adoptees and parents from the English and Romanian Adoptees study explored neurodevelopmental difficulties and service needs after severe early deprivation. Accounts described difficulties with independent living, money management and decisions, alongside unmet needs and problems obtaining recognition of neurodevelopmental conditions. Some described helpful support, while medication experiences varied.
No Evidence for Passive Gene-Environment Correlation or the Influence of Genetic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders on Adult Body Composition via the Adoption Design
2021 · United Kingdom
The study compared body-composition measures in 6,165 adoptees and 6,165 matched non-adopted UK Biobank participants. Researchers tested whether genetic heritability or psychiatric-disorder polygenic associations differed between groups. They found no evidence for the proposed passive gene–environment correlation or for differences in psychiatric genetic-risk effects on adult body composition in this design.
Non-infant adoption from care: lessons for safeguarding children
2009 · United Kingdom
Researchers traced a historical UK cohort of 130 children recommended for adoption at ages three to eleven, using social-work records and later adopter interviews. Many adopters reported persistent difficulties and extensive service use. Thirty-eight per cent of children did not achieve stable adoption; later entry to care correlated with poorer outcomes.
Normality and impairment following profound early institutional deprivation: a longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence
2007 · United Kingdom (regional breakdown not specified)
Researchers followed adopted children from ages 6 to 11, assessing functioning across seven areas. Children who had experienced at least six months of severe institutional deprivation were more likely to have difficulties across several areas, although some had no identified impairment. Individual patterns were often already evident at age 6 and continued at age 11. Few measured background factors explained the differences between children.
Nurturing attachments parenting program: The relationship between adopters’ parental reflective functioning and perception of their children’s difficulties
2019 · England
Twenty-nine adoptive families in England completed questionnaires before and after a group programme. Parent ratings identified more emotional and peer difficulties in children after the programme, but fewer conduct symptoms. The authors considered whether changes in parental understanding influenced recognition of children’s distress.
Outcome in placements for adoption or long-term fostering
1997 · England
Records were examined for 234 permanent placements recommended by Newcastle’s family placement panel during 1986–1990, with outcomes assessed three to five years after placement. The reported disruption rate was 2% for adoptive placements and 51% for long-term fostering. Older age at placement was associated with disruption. This study measures placement stability rather than adoptees’ accounts of life in their families.
Outcomes for previously looked-after children: national education statistics
2026 · England
National education statistics report attainment, absence, exclusions, SEN and destinations for social-care groups, including national data for children who previously left care through adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements orders.
Outcomes of Concurrent Planning: Summary of Findings
2013 · England
Coram examined records for 57 children placed through concurrent planning and interviewed 28 parents or primary carers. Fifty-four children had been adopted and three reunited with birth families. All 57 remained in their placements at the 2012–13 follow-up. The report also assessed children’s health, behaviour and education using records and adult reports.
Outcomes of permanent family placement for children of minority ethnic origin
2001 · United Kingdom
The researchers analysed 254 placements, mostly drawn from a British cohort placed with permanent families in the early 1980s. They examined factors associated with placements not known to have broken down. Age at placement and behavioural difficulties were associated with stability. Placement type and continued birth-parent contact were not associated with stability in this analysis; patterns involving ethnic matching differed between boys and girls.
PAC-UK Big Consult of Adopted People
2023 · England
A voluntary online consultation in late 2022 received 454 responses from people adopted from the 1950s onwards, across English regions. Respondents described identity, education, contact, mental health services, records and reunion. Many reported insufficient childhood information and delays or dissatisfaction with records access; experiences and preferences supported greater openness and continuing support.
Parent-reported problems in 211 adopted children: some risk and protective factors
1997 · United Kingdom
Parents of 211 adoptees who had reached young adulthood were interviewed retrospectively about childhood and adolescent problems. Researchers compared infant adoptees with older adoptees who had experienced satisfactory or adverse early care. Adolescent problems were most common in the adverse early-care group, although difficulties and positive outcomes occurred across groups.
Parenting interventions to support parent/child attachment and psychosocial adjustment in foster and adoptive parents and children: A systematic review
2022 · United Kingdom; international
This review identified 44 studies representing 27 populations, including six UK studies. The synthesis used 24 reports from 16 populations. Attachment-based interventions were associated with better caregiver-rated child psychosocial adjustment and observed positive child behaviour immediately after treatment. Evidence on attachment security and longer-term effects was inconclusive.
Parenting Late-Placed Children: The Development of New Relationships and the Challenge of Behavioural Problems
2003 · United Kingdom (regional recruitment not established)
Researchers followed 61 children placed aged five to nine in new permanent families. After a year, parents described 73% as attached to at least one new parent. Children not described as attached had more reported behavioural, emotional and communication difficulties. Previous rejection by birth parents was also associated with this group.