Esperanza León

Family context for emotional recovery in internationally adopted children

English The context for emotional recovery was analysed in 30 Spanish parents adopting from Russia and a comparison group. The adopted children’s attachment disorders improved significantly after adoption. Adoptive parents showed a more sophisticated and optimistic reflective functioning about their children and their parenting experience. French Le contexte du rétablissement affectif a été analysé chez 30 couples de parents espagnols adoptant des enfants en provenance de Russie et comparé avec celui d’un groupe témoin. Les troubles de l’attachement chez les enfants adoptés se sont améliorés significativement après l’adoption. Les parents adoptifs ont montré un des capacités de réflexion plus sophistiquées et optimistes à propos de leurs enfants et de leur expérience d’éducation. Spanish El contexto de la recuperación emocional se analizó en 30 adoptantes en Rusia y en un grupo de comparación. Los trastornos de apego mejoraron de forma significativa tras la adopción. Los adoptantes mostraron una visión más sofisticada y optimista de sus hijos y de su propia experiencia como padres.

Behavioral and Socioemotional Adjustment in International Adoptees: A Comparison Between Italian and Spanish Adoptive Parents’ Reports

ABSTRACT Dominated by intracultural comparisons between adopted and nonadopted children, adoption research has until now paid little attention to cross-cultural differences in the adoptees’ behavioral and socioemotional adjustment. The present study is aimed at comparing children adopted in two different countries—Italy and Spain—and at verifying, through their parents’ perceptions, the extent to which cultural context may contribute to shaping childrens emotional and behavioral problems. A sample of 207 international adoptees (127 Italian and 80 Spanish) aged between 6 and 14 years was studied. The childrens adjustment was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist, which was filled out by the adoptive parents. Results indicated the presence of more similarities than differences between Italian and Spanish subjects: children adopted both in Italy and Spain between 3 and 5 years old were more likely to exhibit behavior problems than were children who entered the adoptive family at any other age. Some differences related to the birth country also emerged.

Adversity and Adjustment in Children in Institutions, Family Foster Care, and Adoption.

This studys objective was to identify the adversity profiles of children in different childcare placements, and to analyze their relationship with subsequent psychological adjustment. We studied a group of 230 children 4 to 10 years old indifferent childcare placements (international adoption, institutional care, non-kin foster care, and kinship care), as well as a control group. Information was collected from parent or caregiver interviews and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The results showed that children in the child welfare system had experienced significant adversity before their current placement, especially among institutional care cases and international adoptees. Meanwhile, children in kinship care had experienced less adversity (p .50 to d > .80). After a period of time in their respective placements, childrens psychological adjustment was generally positive, but children living in institutional care exhibited the most problems and difficulties, followed by non-kin foster care cases (p .50 to d > .80). Finally, we found that childrens early adversity levels (p < .05; r = .16), age of current placement (p < .01; r = .23), and duration of current placement (p < .05: r = -.19) were all tied to current psychological adjustment.

Parental stress and children adjustment in kinship foster families.

This work focuses on a multidimensional exploration of the stress experienced by kinship foster carers. This study is the first one conducted on Spanish sample, with 116 kinship foster families and foster children, between the ages of 4 and 11 years. In general, data indicate that the carers parental stress scores are within the normative range. The existing heterogeneity among these families is also reported, highlighting a carers group with high stress levels. Parental stress correlated with children variables (initial adversity index, adaptation, evolution and behavioral adjustment); caregiver and family variables (main carers health, no correlation was found with social support network or with economic needs) and child-carer relationship variables (acceptance-rejection, relationship with the main caregiver and with other family members). Finally, the predictive model performed shows that the more behavioral and emotional problems foster children exhibit, the more stress the carers experience. This is also true the worse the relationships with other relatives are and the poorer the health of the main carer is.

Comunicación sobre el acogimiento y funcionamiento familiar en familias extensas acogedoras

Resumen El presente estudio analiza algunos aspectos básicos de la comunicación sobre el acogimiento en una muestra de familias extensas acogedoras y trata de ponerlos en relación con variables del funcionamiento familiar y del ajuste psicológico y conductual de los niños y niñas acogidos. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 189 familias y menores de la provincia de Sevilla. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto las dificultades con las que los acogedores afrontan la tarea de comunicar sobre el acogimiento y sus necesidades de formación y apoyo. Indican también que la comunicación sobre estos temas se relaciona tanto con la evolución experimentada por los menores en el acogimiento como con algunos aspectos del funcionamiento familiar. Así, los niños acogidos en familias que habían hablado con ellos sobre su acogimiento experimentaron una evolución más satisfactoria a lo largo del acogimiento que los que no habían tenido la oportunidad de tratar estos temas con sus acogedores. Por su parte, los acogedores que habían establecido esta comunicación con los acogidos se distinguían por su mayor disposición para cubrir las necesidades psicológicas y educativas de los niños y por formar parte de familias más cohesionadas y con mayor capacidad de adaptación ante nuevas situaciones.

Parental stress, family functioning and children’s psychological adjustment in adoptive families: A comparative and longitudinal study

This work focuses on parental stress in adoptive families with regard to certain key components of family functioning (the family cohesion and adaptability and the parental reflective functioning) as well as in its connection with adopted children’s adjustment. The sample included 98 Spanish parents and children: a group of 40 internationally adoptive families and another group of 58 non-adoptive families, who served as a control group. The longitudinal and comparative analysis showed no significant differences between adoptive and non-adoptive families’ stress scores, but a different incidence of higher stress levels (more non-adoptive families scored above the 75% cut-off). Parental stress scores were related to family adaptability, parental reflective functioning and children’s psychological adjustment. The regression model showed that the best parental stress predictor, for adoptive families, was children’s hyperactivity problems, also linked to family adaptability.

Contact between birth parents and children in kinship care in a sample from Spain

Within the context of kinship care, the main objectives of this work are to study the characteristics of contact between foster children and their birth parents, and their relationship with key variables of fostering, the children and their kinship caregivers. The sample included 189 children from Spain and their kinship families. A semi-structured placement interview and two scales relating to the child–caregiver relationship and childs psychological adjustment were used with the kinship families. The results revealed a significant percentage of foster children who had no family contact. Various visit types, frequencies and durations were described. Kinship care with contact, compared with placements without contact, was frequently characterized by the absence of professional supervision, and an affectionate child–caregiver relationship; moreover, children with contact were perceived to have fewer serious behaviour and socio-emotional problems and a greater probability of family reunification. The regression analysis showed that the main predictors for how caregivers assessed contact were the childrens emotional reaction during visits and the quality of the relationship between the kinship families and the birth parents. These results suggest the need for further research about contact, which will certainly have a major impact on professional intervention with these families.