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The Peer Relationships of Those Who Have Experienced Adoption or Foster Care: A Meta‐Analysis
Author(s) -
DeLuca Haylee K.,
Claxton Shan E.,
Dulmen Manfred H. M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12421
Subject(s) - meta analysis , psychology , foster care , intervention (counseling) , peer review , developmental psychology , quality (philosophy) , peer group , peer influence , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , nursing , philosophy , epistemology , political science , law
This meta‐analytic review examines the presence and quality of close peer relationships for adoptees and individuals with foster care experience. Results indicate that adoptees show difficulty forming close peer relationships compared with biologically reared individuals, but they do not differ in the quality of these relationships. In contrast, those with foster care experience report lower quality peer relationships than biologically reared individuals. Additionally, this meta‐analysis includes prevalence rates of close peer relationships that illustrate most adoptees and foster youth report having high‐quality peer relationships. These findings have important implications for intervention and prevention efforts and offer directions for future research on peer relationships among adoptees and foster youth, but should be considered in light of the presence of some publication bias.