Adult psychosocial outcomes of men and women who were looked-after or adopted as children: prospective observational study
Using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, researchers examined adult psychological and social outcomes in 8,775 women and 3,654 men recruited around Bristol during pregnancy and followed five years later. Adopted adults reported higher smoking rates than the reference group; adopted women also reported higher anxiety. People previously in public care generally had the poorest outcomes.
Limitations: Participants were adult adoptees themselves, although recruited as expectant parents; this is not research about adoptive parents. The selected pregnancy cohort is not representative of all adoptees, and adopted and looked-after groups are distinct. Self-reported childhood status and observational associations do not establish effects of adoption.
- Research type
- Secondary cohort analysis
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Adults
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: Adults
Adoption context: Mixed adoption pathways
Programme: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: adoptee voice, adult outcomes, longitudinal research, mental health, substance use
Review scope: Source checked: Abstract. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: England
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_22000b6b41e5b011