FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTACHMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION by TERESA ...

142 Pages·2005·0.46 MB·English

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTACHMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
by
TERESA MARIA CAMPBELL BARTEL

B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994
M.S., Kansas State University, 1998

AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

School of Family Studies and Human Services
College of Human Ecology

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Manhattan, Kansas
2005
ABSTRACT
As the number of adoptable infants within the U.S. has declined, many families
have chosen to adopt internationally. According to the U.S. Department of State, for the
2002 fiscal year 19,139 immigrant visas were issued to orphans coming into the U.S. A
majority of these adopted children came from China, South Korea, Romania and Russia.
Previous studies have found attachment problems in some adopted populations in early
childhood. However, a majority of studies have focused on other problem areas for older
adopted children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with
attachment in children adopted from these four countries in early childhood.
All of the agencies within the U.S. that provided adoption services to these four
countries were contacted through letters describing the study. The agencies that agreed to
participate contacted potential participants directly through a form letter describing the
study and that contained a website address for them to visit. At this website address, the
potential participants were asked to fill out a survey regarding their adoption experience.
A total of 242 families who had adopted children who were currently between one and
six years of age agreed to participate in the study.
Results indicated that secure attachments with their adoptive families were more
likely in instances where the parenting style was authoritative, there was a positive
emotional reaction from the parents on the day of adoption, the parents received strong
social support, there were fewer health/developmental problems at arrival for the adopted
child, there were fewer health/developmental services needed for the adopted child, the
child spent more months in the adoptive home at the time of the survey and the parent
spent more time with child before returning to work. Also, results indicated that adopted
children displayed more indiscriminately friendly behavior the more months spent in the
adoptive home at the time of the survey and the more time the child spent in the
institution.
The findings of this study support and extend previous research done on this topic
while simultaneously opening up new avenues for international adoption research to
explore. The findings of this study also provide useful information for adoption agencies
to incorporate in their training of social workers and informing parents of the factors
associated with developing secure attachments with their internationally adopted
children.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTACHMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
by
TERESA MARIA CAMPBELL BARTEL

B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994
M.S., Kansas State University, 1998

A DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

School of Family Studies and Human Services
College of Human Ecology

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Manhattan, Kansas
2005

Approved by:

Major Professor
Ann Murray
ABSTRACT
As the number of adoptable infants within the U.S. has declined, many families
have chosen to adopt internationally. According to the U.S. Department of State, for the
2002 fiscal year 19,139 immigrant visas were issued to orphans coming into the U.S. A
majority of these adopted children came from China, South Korea, Romania and Russia.
Previous studies have found attachment problems in some adopted populations in early
childhood. However, a majority of studies have focused on other problem areas for older
adopted children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with
attachment in children adopted from these four countries in early childhood.
All of the agencies within the U.S. that provided adoption services to these four
countries were contacted through letters describing the study. The agencies that agreed to
participate contacted potential participants directly through a form letter describing the
study and that contained a website address for them to visit. At this website address, the
potential participants were asked to fill out a survey regarding their adoption experience.
A total of 242 families who had adopted children who were currently between one and
six years of age agreed to participate in the study.
Results indicated that secure attachments with their adoptive families were more
likely in instances where the parenting style was authoritative, there was a positive
emotional reaction from the parents on the day of adoption, the parents received strong
social support, there were fewer health/developmental problems at arrival for the adopted
child, there were fewer health/developmental services needed for the adopted child, the
child spent more months in the adoptive home at the time of the survey and the parent
spent more time with child before returning to work. Also, results indicated that adopted
children displayed more indiscriminately friendly behavior the more months spent in the
adoptive home at the time of the survey and the more time the child spent in the
institution.
The findings of this study support and extend previous research done on this topic
while simultaneously opening up new avenues for international adoption research to
explore. The findings of this study also provide useful information for adoption agencies
to incorporate in their training of social workers and informing parents of the factors
associated with developing secure attachments with their internationally adopted
children.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables…………………………………………..………………………………..iv
Acknowledgements…..………………………………………………………………….v
Chapter 1: Introduction….………………………………………………………………1
Study objectives………………………………………………………………….9
Chapter 2: Literature Review…….……………………………………………………..10
Attachment theory and research………………………………………………...11
Introduction……………………………………………………………..11
Definition of attachment………………………………………………...12
Attachment and mother-infant interaction………………………………13
Disorders in attachment…………………………………………………16
Attachment measurements………………………………………………19
Strange Situation………………………………………………...20
Attachment Q-Sort…..……………………………………….….22
Five item indiscriminately friendly behavior measure……….….25
Critiques of attachment theory……………………………………….….26
Developmental outcomes of adoption………………………………………..….27
Attachment…………………………………………………………….....29
Identity………………………………………………………………..….34
Emotional/behavioral problems……………………………………….....36
Post-adoption factors associated with adoption outcomes……….……...39
Introduction……………………………………………….……..39
Presence of a sibling…………………………………….……….39
ii
Parenting styles………..………………………...……………….42
Transition process………….………………..….………………..44
Social support…………………….………..……….……………51
Hypotheses………………………………………………………………………56
Chapter 3: Research Methodology….…………………………………………………..58
Participants………………………………………………………………………58
Procedure………………………………………………………………………...62
Instruments………………………………………………………………………63
Transition…………………………………………….…………………..63
Attachment…………………………………………….…………………63
Indiscriminate Friendliness…………………………….………………...66
Social Support………………………………………….………………..67
Parenting Style……..………………………………………….…………69
Demographic Information Survey……………………………………….70
Chapter 4: Results….……………………………………………………………………72
Preliminary Analysis……………………………………………………………..72
Regression Analysis……………………………………………………………...80
Chapter 5: Discussion…………………………………………………………………...83
Group Comparisons……………………………………………………………...84
Variables Related to Attachment………………………………………………...87
Variables Related to Indiscriminate Friendliness………………………………..92
Limitations of Study…………………………………………………………….94
Conclusion and Implications…………………………………………………….96
iii
References..……………………………………………………………………………..100
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………...114
Appendix A: Adoption agency letter…………………………………………..114
Appendix B: Postcard………………………………………………………….115
Appendix C: Transition survey (Bartel, 2002)………………………………...116
Appendix D: Attachment Q-sort (Waters & Deane, 1985)……………..……..120
Appendix E: Five item indiscriminately friendly behavior measure…………..122
Appendix F: Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule……………………..123
Appendix G: Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire Survey………..125
Appendix H: Demographic information survey……………………………….127
Appendix I: Intercorrelations…………………………………………………..131
iv
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: T-test on Characteristics by the Child’s Country of Origin.................................59
Table 2: Chi-Square on Characteristics by the Child’s Country of Origin.......................60
Table 3: Reliability of Measures.......................................................................................66
Table 4: T-tests on Variables by the Child’s Country of Origin.......................................73
Table 5: Chi-Square on Variables by the Child’s Country of Origin...............................76
Table 6: Percentages on Variables by the Child’s Country of Origin..............................77
Table 7: Correlations of Independent Variables with Attachment Measures...................79
Table 8: Regression Analysis with Attachment Measures...............................................81