Predictors of attachment in early- and late-placed adoptees

Predictors of attachment in early- and late-placed adoptees

Saul Hillman, Nahed Lajmi, Jill Hodges, Jeanne Kaniuk, Miriam Steele · Adoption & Fostering

Researchers compared 35 early-placed adoptees and 35 children adopted at ages 4–9 after maltreatment. Childhood story-stem assessments and adolescent attachment interviews were examined using regression models. IQ explained much of the variation in several adolescent attachment measures; defensive avoidance and abuse-related childhood narratives also contributed among late-placed children.

Limitations: The groups differed in early experiences as well as placement age. The modest observational sample cannot isolate the effects of adoption timing. Direct narrative tasks measure attachment representations rather than a general survey of lived experience. Participants overlap with other publications from this programme. A coauthor was affiliated with Coram, an organisation providing adoption services. This identifies an institutional relationship, not evidence of bias or that Coram commissioned every component. Readers may consider this relationship when interpreting the findings.

Research type

Longitudinal study

Source reviewed

Abstract

Peer reviewed

Yes

Age group

Mixed