Youth problems among adoptees living in one-parent homes: A comparison with others from one-parent biological families

Citation

Feigelman, W. & Finley, G. E. (2004). Youth problems among adoptees living in one-parent homes: A comparison with others from one-parent biological families. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. vol. 74 (3) pp. 305-315

Abstract

Exploring how rising family dissolutions affect adopted children, the authors investigated 2 competing viewpoints: (a) a double jeopardy hypothesis, positing adoptees are susceptible to heightened risks of adjustment problems because of a compounding of parental losses, versus (b) a buffering hypothesis, suggesting early birth parent losses buffer an adoptee's ability to accept parental loss from divorce. With data from the 1994 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health, 2003), the authors compared adaptations of adolescent adoptees living with 1 adoptive parent (n = 143) with those of children living in step- or single-parent biological families (n = 7,457) in a nationally representative sample. Results were mixed, showing some support for both hypotheses and mostly nonsignificant differences on the largest number of behavioral comparisons made.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.74.3.305

Keyword(s)

Adoption

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Author(s)

Feigelman, W.
Finley, G. E.

Year Published

2004

Volume Number

74

Issue Number

3

Pages

305-315

DOI

10.1037/0002-9432.74.3.305

Reference ID

348