[Continued from HERE.]


I kept statistical count of the conclusions in my random sampling of studies (and I do mean random: not alphabetical, not chronological, not skewed this way or that, just reading everything there was on the topic until my eyes nearly fell out.) Here are the patterns that I found:

75.6% of the studies I read (34 out of 45) indicated that there were no significant differences between the adjustment of both adolescent and adult adoptees including self-esteem and the ability to form relationships with their non-adopted counterparts. There were some slightly higher levels of insecurity and behavior problems for adoptees noted in seven of the studies, but in all cases the levels were still considered to be in ‘normal ranges’ for adolescents. There were also a few mentions of higher levels of pro-social behavior in adoptees. An important caveat in more than 30% of the research I read is that family relationships and methods of parenting were a larger factor than adoption in the behavior and psychology of the adolescents participating.

(9 out of 45) of the studies found that the adoptees involved had significantly more adjustment problems. Various behavioral problems for adolescent adoptees including notably higher frequency of alcohol and drug use and rebellion against authority were found in all of the studies as being at a higher level. There was one study that found across the board, in all types of issues/problems, that adoptees, young and old, exhibit a much poorer level of mental health than non-adoptees. It is relevant to note that this study was conducted only on ‘clinical’ samples of adoptees being compared to baseline statistics found in other studies for non-adopted teens. Another of the studies that found adult adoptees severely maladjusted used a study group composed of volunteers recruited on Internet adoption and search sites.

6.7% (3 of the 45) of the studies were inconclusive or so completely contradictory in what they noted as their findings that I just couldn’t figure out what they were claiming to have concluded. (If you are confused just reading that, imagine how I felt reading whole studies like this… eek… made my brain hurt.)

- The only studies that indicated that adoptees, adult and adolescent, had very high levels of anger, severe anti-social behavior, etc were specifically studies of adoptees who had been abused in one form or another. These studies all compared the abused adoptees to the normal statistics for biological children of two-parent homes. I could not find a study comparing abused adoptees to abused non-adoptees, but I will keep looking.

[Continued. Next blog: more research tidbits.]