Parental ratings of behavioral adjustment in two samples of adopted Chinese girls: Age-related versus socio-emotional correlates and predictors

Document Type

Article

Department

Institute for Human Development

Abstract

Parental ratings of 695 adopted Chinese girls' internalizing, externalizing, and total problem behaviors were analyzed in 4 stages to: (1) Compare adjustment profiles of Chinese adoptee samples with relevant US normative data; (2) analyze age differences in behavioral adjustment differences of Chinese adoptees; (3) examine interrelationships among the 3 behavior problem scores and child's age at adoption, current age, pre-adoption neglect, and post-adoption initial rejection behaviors; and (4) explore the degree to which the 4 child-level independent variables worked individually or collectively to predict behavioral adjustment outcomes. Chinese adoptees had better adjustment scores than normative samples from the U.S. Preschool-age adoptees had better adjustment scores than school-age adoptees. No relationships were observed between the age-related variables and behavioral adjustment measures. However, pre-adoption neglect and post-adoption initial rejection behaviors were predictors of behavioral adjustment scores. The implications of these findings for future research, clinical practice and parenting education were discussed.

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

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