Young adult international adoptees' search for birth parents

This study examines international adoptees and factors associated with searching for birth parents. A total of 1,417 international adoptees in The Netherlands, aged 24 to 30 years, were divided into 4 groups: uninterested nonsearchers, interested nonsearchers, searchers, and reunited searchers. In t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of family psychology Vol. 22; no. 5; p. 678
Main Authors Tieman, Wendy, van der Ende, Jan, Verhulst, Frank C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.2008
Subjects
Adolescent
Adoption - psychology
Adult
Age Factors
Child
Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis
Child Behavior Disorders - psychology
Conduct Disorder - diagnosis
Conduct Disorder - psychology
Emigration and Immigration
Female
Humans
Internal-External Control
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - psychology
Netherlands
Parents - psychology
Residence Characteristics
Young Adult
Netherlands
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Summary:This study examines international adoptees and factors associated with searching for birth parents. A total of 1,417 international adoptees in The Netherlands, aged 24 to 30 years, were divided into 4 groups: uninterested nonsearchers, interested nonsearchers, searchers, and reunited searchers. In total, 32% of adoptees had searched. Although the majority of searchers were well-adjusted, they had more problems--mainly internalizing problems--than uninterested nonsearchers. These problems, however, were not caused by the search itself. It is concluded that searching is the product of natural curiosity influenced by external factors such as the divorce of adoptive parents and the options for searching.
ISSN:0893-3200
DOI:10.1037/a0013172