Adoptee Rights
Research

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  • Severe deprivation in early childhood leads to permanent growth stunting: Longitudinal analysis of height trajectories from childhood-to-adulthood

    2022 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)

    Researchers modelled height at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 23 in a cohort of 165 Romanian adoptees and 51 UK adoptees. Longer early deprivation was associated with shorter adult height. Earlier adolescent growth acceleration was also observed, especially among females.

  • Severe psychosocial deprivation in early childhood is associated with increased DNA methylation across a region spanning the transcription start site of CYP2E1

    2016 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)

    Researchers measured DNA methylation in cheek cells from 49 adolescent adoptees with longer, shorter or no Romanian institutional exposure. No individual tested site remained significant after multiple-testing correction, but a region spanning nine sites near CYP2E1 differed by exposure and was associated with markers of social-cognitive difficulties.

  • Sibling Connections: adopted people's birth and adoptive sibling relationships across the life-span

    2012 · United Kingdom

    Twenty adopted adults with at least one known birth sibling were interviewed about birth and adoptive sibling relationships across their lives.

  • Sibling separation and birth family reunion in adoption: perspectives of social workers and adoptees

    2017 · UK research context; empirical recruitment region unverified

    This doctorate includes a systematic review of thirteen studies on adult adoptees’ reunions and an interview study of social workers’ sibling-placement decisions using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The review examined relationships, reunion impacts and facilitating or obstructing factors. The empirical analysis identified themes about decision-making and the role of workers’ beliefs and experiences.

  • Siblings in Late Permanent Placements

    2001 · United Kingdom (regional recruitment not established)

    This research monograph examines siblings in later permanent placements. The publisher lists the title, authors and publication year. The underlying report was not accessible for review, so this record identifies the research without reporting its findings.

  • Social and family relationships of ex-institutional adolescents

    1989 · United Kingdom

    This companion follow-up examined family and social relationships among adolescents who had experienced institutional care in early childhood. Lasting attachments to parents were reported more commonly after adoption than after return to birth parents. Both formerly institutionalised groups had more difficulties with peers and fewer close relationships than matched comparison adolescents.

  • Specificity and heterogeneity in children's responses to profound institutional privation

    2001 · United Kingdom; Romania (origin)

    Researchers compared seven areas of functioning at ages four and six in 165 Romanian adoptees and 52 UK domestic adoptees. Institutional deprivation was associated with attachment-related behaviours, attention and overactivity problems, autistic-like features and cognitive impairment. Emotional difficulties, peer problems and conduct problems did not show the same association at these ages. Outcomes varied, including children with longer institutional exposure who showed no measured impairment.

  • Stability, Permanence, Outcomes and Support: Foster Care and Adoption Compared

    2004 · United Kingdom research context (sample geography not specified in abstract)

    Researchers followed 130 older children for whom adoption had been recommended. Some were adopted while others entered long-term fostering, allowing comparison of placement experiences. The groups differed in placement stability, carers’ autonomy and reported closeness, alongside similarities in caring for the children.

  • Starting Secondary School: The Experiences of Adopted Young People and Their Parents

    2020 · UK; recruitment region not specified in abstract

    Three adopted Year 7 pupils and two adoptive parents were interviewed about starting secondary school. Older adopted pupils helped shape the research design. Interpretative phenomenological analysis identified themes concerning anxiety, managing oneself, attachment and adoptive identity. Accounts varied with individual experiences.

  • Still the ‘trusty anvil’?: media perspectives on adoption reform in England

    2018 · England (British press coverage)

    A content analysis examined adoption coverage in five British national daily newspapers and their Sunday counterparts during 2010–2014. Coverage generally supported government adoption reforms. Race and ethnicity received particularly frequent attention; the analysis characterised some reporting of ethnic matching as exaggerated or misleading.

  • Substance use disorders and adoption: findings from a national sample

    2012 · United States

    A large US epidemiological survey compared 378 adopted adults with more than 42,000 non-adopted adults. Several lifetime substance-use disorders were more prevalent among adoptees.

  • Suicidal behaviour in national and international adult adoptees: a Swedish cohort study

    2006 · Sweden

    More than 6,000 international adoptees, 7,000 Swedish domestic adoptees and over one million non-adopted people were compared. Both adoptee groups had elevated risks of suicide attempt and suicide death, with higher relative risks among international adoptees.

  • Suicide, psychiatric illness, and social maladjustment in intercountry adoptees in Sweden

    2002 · Sweden

    A Swedish national-register cohort found elevated risks for serious psychiatric and social outcomes among intercountry adoptees compared with the majority population. Its importance lies in its population-level design and long follow-up.

  • Support for Adoptive Families: A Review of Current Evidence on Problems, Needs and Effectiveness

    2003 · United Kingdom research context (sample geography not specified in abstract)

    A research review examined adopted children’s difficulties, family characteristics, support needs and intervention evidence. It described accumulating knowledge but limited evaluation of interventions for placements experiencing problems.

  • Supporting adoption: reframing the approach

    1999 · England and Wales

    This research examined support for older children moving from local-authority care into adoption. It reviewed educational, social-work, legal, health and psychological services alongside informal support. The repository abstract describes substantial variation in adoption practice across England and Wales and recommendations for changing service provision.

  • Supporting post adoption contact for children adopted from care: A study of social workers' attitudes

    2008 · England and Wales

    Responses to a case vignette from 112 adoption social workers in England and Wales explored attitudes to contact support. Workers emphasised children’s needs more than relationships between birth and adoptive parents, and were least oriented towards supporting birth parents. Attitudes varied between agencies.

  • Surnames in Adoption: (Re)creating Identities of Belonging

    2023 · England and Wales

    Adult adoptee and adopter accounts were used to examine how surnames relate to family belonging, individual identity, birth-family connections and lineage.

  • TESSA families study: report of pilot evaluation

    2021 · Wales; Scotland

    A pilot evaluation involving 20 adopters examined TESSA support through interviews and questionnaires. Its child-outcome component compared parents’ ratings before and after support and found a decrease in total child difficulties. The report also examined how the service operated during the pandemic.

  • The Adoption Barometer 2019: A stocktake of adoption in the UK

    2019 · United Kingdom

    The first Adoption Barometer surveyed around 3,500 families about 2018. Its child-outcome component covers education, mental-health service use and the transition to adulthood through parent questionnaires. This entry identifies that research component; detailed findings are not summarised because the report itself could not be retrieved.

  • The Adoption Barometer 2020: A stocktake of adoption in the UK

    2020 · United Kingdom

    The 2020 report analyses 4,926 valid responses collected in early 2020 about 2019. Its child-focused sections use parent reports to examine educational support, health and transitions to adulthood. Most parents reporting on education described their children as needing additional support compared with peers. The report also examines fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.