The Effects of Postadoption Service Need and Use on Child and Adoptive Parent Outcomes

Abstract

This study looks at parents who have adopted children from the U.S. foster care system and identifies relationships between postadoptive services and outcomes for both parents and children alike. Data for the study came from the 2012 U.S. National Adoptive Families Study, an online survey of adoptive parents (N = 437) who have adopted at least 1 child from the U.S. foster care system. The study focused on child outcomes such as social integration and the child's overall improvement and adoptive parent outcomes such as emotional states, changes in close relationships, and satisfaction with the adoption. The study also assessed whether or not these outcomes are associated with adoption dissolution. Results show that parents’ need for and access to postadoption services is associated with many types of parent and child outcomes, but not always in the direction practitioners might assume. Furthermore, these parent and child outcomes are statistically related to adoption dissolution. Future research will delve into whether or not these associations between postadoptive services and outcomes differ among adoptive families based on family structure and social support networks.

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