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Articles 1 - 30 of 30
Full-Text Articles in Psychology
The Archeology Of Adoption: Tracing The Journey From Birth Through Adoption Using Pre-Adoptive Artifacts, Ellen Reeve
The Archeology Of Adoption: Tracing The Journey From Birth Through Adoption Using Pre-Adoptive Artifacts, Ellen Reeve
Educational Studies Dissertations
Adults adopted in childhood often face a heightened susceptibility to psychological and behavioral challenges compared with their non-adopted peers. Scholars examining this phenomenon associate various factors, including an adoptee’s sense of self as an individual within a complex adoption background. This qualitative study utilized a material engagement theory to explore birth through adoptive narratives among adults adopted in closed settings during childhood. Through participatory research, participants examined a range of artifacts related to maternal relinquishment, encompassing foster and adoption records, original birth certificates, letters, photographs, birthmarks, clothing, hair, scars, and DNA test results. The study focused on understanding these artifacts’ …
The Untended Garden: How Adoptees Navigate Relationships With First Family Members, Dawn Michele Mccormick Tracz
The Untended Garden: How Adoptees Navigate Relationships With First Family Members, Dawn Michele Mccormick Tracz
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
This research explores how people who were adopted over the age of 6 years old in open adoption arrangements navigate ongoing relationships with first family members. It explores perceptions of how a connection with both adoptive and first family members impacts self-concept. Using an interpretivist-constructivist lens, the narratives of four women are presented and analyzed. In addition to qualitative interviews, each participant was invited to create images that represented relationships with significant family members. The narratives are re-presented in detail adhering closely to the teller’s organization and emphases. In the analysis, themes related to relationships with first family members and …
Nicu Experiences Of Adoptive Parents & Desired Preparation, Catherine J. Howe
Nicu Experiences Of Adoptive Parents & Desired Preparation, Catherine J. Howe
MSU Graduate Theses
Parents who have newborns admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have multiple experiences and emotions. Additional social and emotional layers are experienced by adoptive couples when the infant they wish to adopt needs specialized care. This research study was completed to find out what adoptive parents experience in the NICU and what preparation would have been helpful. The method included semi-structured, open-ended interviews with seven couples who adopted a newborn at a Midwestern adoption agency within the past three years and had a NICU experience. The results described adoptive couples’ experiences on the unit, bonding and attachment, fears …
Adult Transracial Adoptees' Childhood Experiences And Decision-Making In Forming Families Of Creation, Sarah J. Gray
Adult Transracial Adoptees' Childhood Experiences And Decision-Making In Forming Families Of Creation, Sarah J. Gray
MSU Graduate Theses
This study examined adult transracial adoptees’ (TRAs) childhood experiences and determined how specific factors influenced their likelihood to choose biological procreation, adoption, fostering, a combination of these options, or the choice to be child-free when forming their own families. These adoptees were Black, Indigenous and people of color adopted by white parents in the United States through domestic or international adoption. Childhood experiences included the TRAs’ sense of belonging, cultural socialization, and preparation for bias. The only dependent variable option predicted by a childhood experience was the preference to be child-free. TRAs who experienced higher levels of belonging were less …
Parent School Involvement, Student School Engagement, And Academic Achievement In Children Adopted From Foster Care By Lesbian And Gay Parents, Cassandra P. Vazquez
Parent School Involvement, Student School Engagement, And Academic Achievement In Children Adopted From Foster Care By Lesbian And Gay Parents, Cassandra P. Vazquez
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Sparse research has examined academic outcomes of children adopted from foster care by lesbian and gay (LG) parents. Children who have experienced foster care are at greater risk for negative outcomes, but investment in academic achievement could help buffer potential adversity. Parent and student engagement with school peaks in middle childhood, so this may be an important period for understanding processes that influence academic achievement. This study explores how LG parents (N = 57) of school-aged children (Mage = 10.56 years) adopted from foster care in the U.S. involve themselves in their child’s school, how this involvement may …
The Lived Experiences Of Caregivers Of Children With Reactive Attachment Disorder, Abby Baumgart
The Lived Experiences Of Caregivers Of Children With Reactive Attachment Disorder, Abby Baumgart
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Parents of children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) encounter challenges in parenting and parent-child relationship development that are not typical to most parental situations. The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of caregivers of children with RAD, to identify current met and unmet needs, to explore the experiences the caregivers of children with RAD have and the resources available to them. The study included a hermeneutic phenomenological foundation and incorporated the conceptual frameworks of family systems theory and attachment theory. A nonprobability, self-selection sampling strategy was utilized with recruitment through Facebook support groups. Methods included …
A Phenomenological Exploration Of Korean Adoptees’ Multiple Minority Identities, Jared Utley
A Phenomenological Exploration Of Korean Adoptees’ Multiple Minority Identities, Jared Utley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Since the end of the Korean War, Korean children have been placed for international adoption due to their marginalized status in South Korea. In the United States, Korean children have predominantly been adopted to White families through transracial adoption (Bergquist, 2003; Lee, 2003). Transracial adoption describes the process of children being placed in a home where there are racial differences with one or both adoptive parents. Through international transracial adoption, Korean adoptees may undergo events that impact the salience and development of multiple minority identities, including: racial, ethnic, cultural, and as an adoptee. These experiences may be shaped by interactions …
Treatment Considerations For Adoption-Related Complex Trauma, Jessica Reyka
Treatment Considerations For Adoption-Related Complex Trauma, Jessica Reyka
Dissertations
The western culture holds many assumptions related to adoption; however, it is clear based on the research provided that adoption and the circumstances leading up to being adopted often leave the child traumatized. Many adopted individuals and adoptive families seek mental health services in order to help address some of the symptoms that have manifested through traumatic events. However, the services they are receiving are reportedly lacking in basic knowledge related to adoption and have, at times, done more harm than good. As clinicians, it is important to acknowledge one's scope of clinical competence and to only treat individuals that …
A Survey Of Dissociation, Identity Distress, And Rejection Sensitivity In Adult Adoptees, Lee J. Mclamb
A Survey Of Dissociation, Identity Distress, And Rejection Sensitivity In Adult Adoptees, Lee J. Mclamb
Honors Undergraduate Theses
This study quantitatively measures dissociation, rejection sensitivity, and identity distress among adults who experienced adoption as a child and the relationship between these factors. This study also compares groups of adoptees recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and social media to assess whether these two recruitment methods achieve similar results. An online survey was conducted of adopted adults and non-adopted adults to serve as controls using both MTurk and social media. A total of 539 participants were recruited representing 151 non-adopted individuals recruited exclusively through Mturk, and 388 adoptees, 247 of whom were recruited through MTurk and 141 through social …
How Children Describe Negative Adoption Experiences, Mckenzie Paskett
How Children Describe Negative Adoption Experiences, Mckenzie Paskett
Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects
Adoption faces stigmas from society which affects peoples' perceptions of adoptees, their birth parents, and adoptive parent s; one of the most prominent being that adoption is the "second best" route to getting children (Baxter, Norwood, Asbury, & Scharp , 2014). Adoption success is mixed with some adapting well, while others have negative experience s. Studying themes about how and why negative adoption experiences happen could be beneficial to preventing them in the future. There is a unique perspective between parents and children and so the central research question for this study is: how do children describe their negative adoption …
Understanding Relational Competence In Emerging Adult Adoptees: A New Way To Conceptualize Competence In Close Relationships, Krystal K. Cashen
Understanding Relational Competence In Emerging Adult Adoptees: A New Way To Conceptualize Competence In Close Relationships, Krystal K. Cashen
Masters Theses
Relatively little research has focused on the positive adjustment of emerging adult adoptees (Palacios & Brodzinsky, 2010). Given the developmental context of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000), it is important to select a measure of adjustment that reflects the increased ambiguity seen in this time period. The present study aims to develop and validate a measure of relational competence, or competence in one’s closest relationship regardless of relationship type (i.e., romantic vs. nonromantic). This measure will be created by adapting the Romantic Competence Interview, a measure of romantic competence previously used with emerging adults (Shulman, Davila, & Shachar-Shapira, 2011). Participants …
A Phenomenological Exploration Of Parent Experiences That Influence Positive Adoption Outcomes, Deena Shelton
A Phenomenological Exploration Of Parent Experiences That Influence Positive Adoption Outcomes, Deena Shelton
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Children who age out of foster care face adjustments and mental health issues at higher rates than their peers, but those who are adopted have the opportunity to heal from previous trauma and experience better outcomes. To create healthy family systems for adopted children, adoptive parents need support and guidance as they personally adjust and help their children adjust to a new family system. Previous research has focused on child identifiers rather than on the broader family system in efforts to understand adoption success and failure. In this transcendental phenomenological study, adoptive parents provided their lived experiences of support during …
Attitudes And Actions That Adoptive Parents Perceive As Helpful In The Process Of Raising Their Internationally Adopted Adolescent, Marina V. Kuzmina
Attitudes And Actions That Adoptive Parents Perceive As Helpful In The Process Of Raising Their Internationally Adopted Adolescent, Marina V. Kuzmina
Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations
This phenomenological dissertation study explored the lived experiences of adoptive parents in the process of raising their internationally adopted adolescents. The researcher interviewed 9 participants. Criteria for selection of the research sample included having personal experience with parenting one or more international adolescents adopted at age 10 or older and raising these adolescents for at least two years following such adoption. Data analysis included steps suggested by Moustakas (1994) and the participation of a research team and external auditor. According to the recommendations of Lincoln and Guba (1985), several strategies for trustworthiness were implemented during this course of the study. …
The Effects Of Transracial Adoption On Adjustment And Identity Development, Krystle Dandridge
The Effects Of Transracial Adoption On Adjustment And Identity Development, Krystle Dandridge
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
A plethora of studies have focused on transracial adoption. While these studies have looked at identity development and/or adjustment, they lacked the investigation into some possible causes to include feelings of belongingness as well as socioeconomic status. The current study explored the lack of cultural socialization and belongingness of people adopted into an environment culturally dissimilar from their birth culture. The nonexperimental, correlational design study examined the relationship between adjustment and identity development, and the impact of transracial adoption when considering socioeconomic status and skin tone. The New Immigrant Survey Skin Color Scale, Multiethnic Identity Measure, and Measure of Psychosocial …
The Role Of Adoptive Identity In Career Development Of College And Non-College Individuals, Yesel Yoon
The Role Of Adoptive Identity In Career Development Of College And Non-College Individuals, Yesel Yoon
Doctoral Dissertations
Identity development is a particularly salient developmental task that begins to take form during adolescence, and consolidation of multiple domains of identity is necessary for achieving successful outcomes in adulthood (Erikson, 1968). The purpose of this study was to examine the role of an ascribed adoptive identity on the individualization of one’s chosen career identity. Adoptive identity was examined using both individual and family-level factors, and career identity was measured across adolescence, emerging adulthood, and adulthood. The present study used a sub-sample of adoptees, adoptive mothers, and adoptive fathers from an ongoing longitudinal research study, the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Program …
The Effects Of Conspecifics On Dog (Canis Lupus Familiaris) Behavior During Behavioral Rehabilitation Treatments, Breanna Schultz
The Effects Of Conspecifics On Dog (Canis Lupus Familiaris) Behavior During Behavioral Rehabilitation Treatments, Breanna Schultz
Theses and Dissertations
With high dog euthanasia rates increasing adoption is a significant animal welfare issue that finding methods to treat fearful animals from cruelty cases could help. This study examined the effects of conspecific presence on dogs in behavioral rehabilitation and found significant differences in boldness-fearfulness and solicitation and proximity behaviors.
An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design To Maximize Dog Adoption Success, Claire Weinman
An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design To Maximize Dog Adoption Success, Claire Weinman
Senior Projects Fall 2015
Evolution and domestication have brought dogs very close to humans. Research has found numerous behavioral, cognitive, neurological, and physiological similarities between the two species. Additional research has found that humans and dogs can share cross-species attachments that are comparable to mother-infant attachments. Furthermore, attachment styles in dogs are classified the same way they are in children. The statistics on the vast amount of dogs in animal shelters, too many of which are being senselessly killed, are shocking. I propose a two-part study that first assesses which attachment style pairings are most successful and which are unsuccessful based on measurements of …
Challenges Of Child Trauma On Adoptive Families' Social And Emotional System, Jacqueline Yvonne Ford
Challenges Of Child Trauma On Adoptive Families' Social And Emotional System, Jacqueline Yvonne Ford
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Adoption-focused psychoeducation is deemed essential in maintaining the permanency of traumatized children within a new family unit. However, adoptive parents of traumatized children struggle to find training to address their unique concerns. Guided by the lens of psychodynamic theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by adoptive families of traumatized children. Special focus was placed on the social and emotional relationships of the adoptive parents of traumatized children, to identify the realistic expectations towards attachment from the families' perspectives. Fifteen families were randomly selected to participate in this study from a group of 30 parents …
Testing In Adoption Evaluations: Selections And Usage Determined From Surveying Psychologists, Erin Marie Sylvester Nichting
Testing In Adoption Evaluations: Selections And Usage Determined From Surveying Psychologists, Erin Marie Sylvester Nichting
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
A significant amount of children are adopted each year both within the United States and internationally. In fact, the United States Department of State reported that 242,602 international adoptions had taken place from 1999 to 2012 and also indicated that in 2012 alone, 52,035 children had been adopted domestically. However, research is lacking in many areas of the adoption process. One such area includes an absence of knowledge in regards to adoption evaluations, even though they may be required for both prospective parents and adoptive children during the adoption process. Another area includes how psychological instruments are incorporated into these …
Individuation As An Adolescent Developmental Task: Associations With Adoptee Adjustment, Danila Musante
Individuation As An Adolescent Developmental Task: Associations With Adoptee Adjustment, Danila Musante
Doctoral Dissertations
This study evaluated the associations between adolescent individuation and concurrent and long term adjustment in adoptive families. Individuation was assessed using an observational measure examining behaviors and communications demonstrative of individuality and connectedness between each parent and the adolescent. Findings did not support the hypothesized connection between adolescent individuation and concurrent and long term adjustment in adoptive families. However, further analyses revealed particular importance of connectedness between adolescent and parent for adolescent adjustment, which was found to vary by adolescent gender. Specifically, analyses revealed that gender interacts with both adolescent-father connectedness and mother-adolescent connectedness in predicting adolescent internalizing symptoms; for …
Emotion In Adoption Narratives: Links To Close Relationships In Emerging Adulthood, Holly A. Grant-Marsney
Emotion In Adoption Narratives: Links To Close Relationships In Emerging Adulthood, Holly A. Grant-Marsney
Doctoral Dissertations
An adopted person develops a narrative or story to help make sense of his or her adoption. This narrative provides a window into how the adoptee understands the role of adoption in his or her life and articulates feelings and thoughts about it. Adolescent and emerging adult adoptees’ data from the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project (MTARP) were examined. MTARP longitudinally followed 190 adoptive kinship networks, with varying levels of openness in the adoption, from childhood to emerging adulthood. The current study sought to understand how emotion (affective valence and specific emotions), as identified in the adoption narratives during adolescence and …
The Lived Experience Of Adoption: Do Current Conceptualizations Reflect Changing Realities?, Quade Y. S. French
The Lived Experience Of Adoption: Do Current Conceptualizations Reflect Changing Realities?, Quade Y. S. French
Doctoral Dissertations
The lived experiences of four adopted college undergraduates were documented through a series of semi-structured interviews across a two-year period. Participants were interviewed during their engagement as mentors in an adoption-specific mentoring program (the Adoption Mentoring Program, AMP) in which they were each paired with an adopted child from the community in one-to-one relationships. Importantly, participation in the mentoring program offered mentors a chance to connect with same-aged peers around issues of adoption research, theory, and experiences. Participation in this program is viewed as a marked change in the social context of adoption experienced by participants; this social change provided …
The Separate And Combined Effects Of Heredity And Environment Predicting Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms And Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms, Jaylee R. Gill
Honors Theses
The current study examined genetic and environmental influences in relation to alcohol use pathology. The 756 participants (378 adoptive, 378 non-adoptive) came from the 2001-2002 NESARC conducted by the NIAAA. A factorial ANOVA was used to measure the effects that the three grouping variables had on each dependent variable for a total of seven datasets. Results showed that biological parents’ drinking did pose a risk in participants for Loss of Control (p = .000) and Dangerous Behavior (p = .00). Adoption status was correlated with Conduct Disorder (p = .007) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (p = .014). This suggests that …
A Case Study Of The Adoption And Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports (Pbis) Tier 2 In Two Elementary Schools, Kathleen Emma Affigne
A Case Study Of The Adoption And Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports (Pbis) Tier 2 In Two Elementary Schools, Kathleen Emma Affigne
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This study was designed to explore four primary research questions. Why do schools and districts adopt PBIS? Which stakeholders were included in the decision-making process to adopt PBIS? Do these adoption dynamics influence PBIS Tier 2 implementation? With PBIS Tier 2 implementation fidelity as a desirable outcome, what are the relevant facilitators, constraints, and obstacles?
A Longitudinal Study Of The Effect Of At Birth Adoptions On Anxiety, Stress Hormones And Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Nonhuman Primate Model, Whitney Faith Maxwell
A Longitudinal Study Of The Effect Of At Birth Adoptions On Anxiety, Stress Hormones And Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Nonhuman Primate Model, Whitney Faith Maxwell
Theses and Dissertations
Adopted individuals have an increased risk for a variety of psychopathological disorders. Studies of the effects adoption in humans are difficult to perform because of the difficulty separating genetic risk and treatment effects. This is a developmental study investigating the effects of at birth adoption using a nonhuman primate model. Three experimental paradigms were used to assess maternal treatment, stress-related behavior, and physiology late in infancy and again later in life. Rhesus monkeys were reared for their first six months of life by either their biological mother or an unrelated, lactating adult female. Adoptions occurred immediately following birth. At six …
The Effect Of Neglect In Infancy On The Ability To Attach To Adoptive Caregivers, Lisa Marie Christoffer
The Effect Of Neglect In Infancy On The Ability To Attach To Adoptive Caregivers, Lisa Marie Christoffer
Theses Digitization Project
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between neglect in infancy and the child's ability to form attachments in an adoption context. Most of the current research assesses the effect of all forms of maltreatment on attachment behavior. However this study aimed to investigate one type of maltreatment, neglect, on attachment behavior.
Positive Affect During Goal Adoption : Why Happiness Breeds Success, Katherine Wainwright
Positive Affect During Goal Adoption : Why Happiness Breeds Success, Katherine Wainwright
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection
Prior research has shown that positive affect helps individuals to achieve their goals. typically by energizing individuals' performance during goal pursuit. However, questions remain as to whether other mechanisms might exist by which positive affect could facilitate success. Specifically, researchers have yet to address the role that positive affect might play during the process of goal adoption. In the current study, I examined whether positive affect experienced at the time of goal adoption facilitates goal achievement. Participants were induced into either a positive or neutral affective state by watching a video clip. They were also asked to adopt the goal …
Comparison Of Adoptive Vs. Biological Mother-Infant Relationships In Nonhuman Primates, Rachel Ann Bogh
Comparison Of Adoptive Vs. Biological Mother-Infant Relationships In Nonhuman Primates, Rachel Ann Bogh
Theses and Dissertations
Studies suggest that adoptees are at risk for a number of psychopathological behaviors. To understand the etiology of this risk, 150 socially housed rhesus macaques were studied, including 107 infants reared with their biological mothers and 43 infants reared with unrelated adoptive mothers. Mother-infant behaviors were recorded across the first 6 months of life. Analyses were performed using a hierarchical linear mixed model. All reported results were tested at p<0.05. Adopted infants were observed on average to approach and leave their mothers more frequently, explore the environment and locomote longer, exhibit more anxiety-like behavior, spend less time being held to their mother's breast, and were rejected by their mothers more when compared to nonadopted infants, indicating they are more likely responsible for maintaining the relationship. They also direct and receive more noncontact aggression on average to other social group members, and showed evidence of higher anxiety exhibiting high levels of anxiety-like self-directed behavior when compared to nonadopted infants. Also, results indicate that adopted infants have significantly lower levels of the CSF serotonin metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid when compared to nonadopted infants.
Adult Adoptees And The Psychological Processes Involved In The Decision To Search For Origins, Anne Ranee Farrar
Adult Adoptees And The Psychological Processes Involved In The Decision To Search For Origins, Anne Ranee Farrar
Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)
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The Influence Of Adoption On Self-Related Social-Emotional Characteristics Of Adopted Children And Adolescents, H. Norman Ames
The Influence Of Adoption On Self-Related Social-Emotional Characteristics Of Adopted Children And Adolescents, H. Norman Ames
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Many families in our society have been created through adoption. In 1990, there were approximately 119,000 adoption placements in the United States (Flango & Flango, 1990). Over the past decade, the majority of adoptions were infants placed with White couples who ranged in age from 25 to 34 (Bachrach, Adams, Sambrano, & London, 1990).