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Adopted Adolescents' Preoccupation With Adoption: The Impact on Adoptive Family Relationships
Author(s) -
Kohler Julie K.,
Grotevant Harold D.,
McRoy Ruth G.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00093.x
Subject(s) - alienation , openness to experience , psychology , developmental psychology , perception , identity (music) , social psychology , physics , neuroscience , political science , acoustics , law
This study examines the relationship between the intensity of adopted adolescents' thinking about their adoptions and their adoptive family relationships. Participants included 135 adopted adolescents involved in an ongoing study of openness in adoption. Adolescents who reported high levels of preoccupation with adoption reported greater alienation from their adoptive fathers than did adolescents who reported moderate or low levels of preoccupation. Adolescents with extremely high levels of preoccupation reported significantly higher levels of alienation and significantly lower levels of trust for their adoptive mothers and fathers than adolescents with extremely low levels of preoccupation. These findings, along with the divergences between adolescents' perceptions of dyadic and overall family relationships, are discussed in terms of how they relate to the process of adoptive identity exploration.