[Continued from HERE.]

In addition to main statics, there were a few conclusions that popped up here and there that I either found hilarious or interesting or random or, even, some mixture of the three:

* In an 1987 study, adoptees found their mothers to be more autocratic than their non-adopted counterparts (ha HA! Just kidding, Mom)

* A study adding non-adoptees with single parents to the mix found, "Over 80 percent [of adoptees] had some formal qualifications by age 23, while just over 75 percent of the two-parent biological group had similar credentials, and less than 30 percent of the men and slightly more than 50 percent of the women in the single-parent group."

* In a 1991 study, "Adoptees scored more positively on the subscale measuring "Industry vs. Inferiority". The group of adoptees with no information regarding their birthmothers scored higher on the Autonomy subscale." (Industry vs. Inferiority? What a bizarre comparison...)

* "Overall, the adoptees' family environment was characterized by greater organization, less conflict and less achievement orientation than the nonadoptees." (From a 1991 survey.)

* A 1990 survey reported that adopted children are referred for psychological treatment two to five times more often.

* In a1992 clinical study, "The author concluded that adopted teenagers, although more likely to manifest behavior problems than nonadopted youth, were also more likely to be referred for mental health services for even minor problems … The results do not support that adoptees appear more often in psychiatric settings purely because they are more troubled."

* A study using divorce as the focus in 1992 found: "The adopted adults did not exhibit any more trauma during divorce than the nonadopted group."

* Looking at how adopted/non-adopted children remember family members at different points in their lives, a 1994 study found that "adoptees recalled being especially close to their fathers in the preschool period. Nonadoptees recalled no such closeness."

* A 1997 study stated: "…adoptees may have had more problems during adolescence than those raised by two biologic parents; however, adoptees showed much less clear evidence of long-term difficulties." And also that "In terms of material possessions, both male and female adoptees had accumulated assets at roughly the same rate as those raised by biologic parents."

* "A key finding was that adoptees from biological-adoptive families felt less similar to their parents in values, personality, interest, and appearance, and felt more societal stigma from adoption than adoptees in all-adoptive families," in a 1998 study.

* A 1999 study focused on international adoptees in adolescence stated, "The living situation of the children prior to adoption had more impact on the outcomes than the age at placement. The rate at which children exhibited poor attachment increased if the child had been in an orphanage/foster home for a longer time."

* From a 2000 study of the effects of adoption on "attachment style and internal models of self," discovered that "For participants currently in committed relationships, the mean relationship time for adoptees was significantly longer than for non-adopted people … Finally, among adoptees who reported not always having known about their adoptive status, insecurely classified participants were told at a significantly younger age than those classified secure."

* And, the bit that seemed to sum up what makes a happy adoptee, from a 1999 study, "Adoptees who reported high levels of satisfaction with their adoptive status described their families as direct and open in expressing feelings, actively involved together in social and recreational activities, focused on moral and ethical issues. Adoptees' overall level of satisfaction with their adoption was positively correlated with the degree of commitment, help and support among family members, and the degree of shared interest in social, cultural, and intellectual activity."

[Continued. Next blog: research goes to the trenches.]