Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug;130(Pt 2):105309.
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309. Epub 2021 Sep 17.

Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption

Affiliations

Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption

David Brodzinsky et al. Child Abuse Negl. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Although a very heterogeneous group, adopted persons may present developmental and mental health problems of varying severity. Pre-placement adversity and trauma have often been linked to these problems. It has been also suggested that adoption itself is a psychological trauma, predisposing the individual to emotional difficulties.

Objectives: This article examines the links between early adversity, trauma, and adoption. We begin by defining trauma and then describe the way in which pre-placement adversity can undermine neurobehavioral and interpersonal functioning, increasing the risk for long-term psychological difficulties. Next, we examine children's recovery when placed in a stable adoptive home. Finally, we explore adoption as a lived experience, highlighting contextual and developmental factors that facilitate the person's positive or negative attributions about being adopted, leading to varying patterns of emotional adjustment.

Conclusions: Although pre-placement adversity increases adopted individuals' risk for maladjustment, the human brain and behavior are malleable, and placement in a nurturing adoptive home often facilitates recovery from early adversity, with significant heterogeneity in the extent of recovery within and across domains of functioning. While there is no evidence that early adoption is a trauma for the individual, ongoing negative life circumstances, attachment difficulties, and developmentally-mediated attributions about adoption can undermine the person's self-esteem, identity, relationships, and sense of well-being. Conclusions and suggestions for future research are offered.

Keywords: Adoption; Adoption as a lived experience; Developmental recovery; Early life adversity; Neuroplasticity; Trauma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of interest: none

References

    1. Askeland KG, Hysing M, La Greca AM, Aarø LE, Tell GS, & Sivertsen B (2017). Mental health in internationally adopted adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(3), 203–213. 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.12.009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Atkinson SJ (2020). Adoption competent clinical practice. In Wrobel GM, Helder E, & Marr E (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of adoption (pp. 435–448). Routledge.
    1. Baden AL (2016). “Do you know your real parents?” and other adoption microaggressions. Adoption Quarterly, 19, 1–25. 10.1080/10926755.2015.1026012 - DOI
    1. Baden AL, Shadel D, Morgan R, White EE, Harrington ES, Christian N & Bates TA (2019). Delaying adoption disclosure: A survey of late discovery adoptees. Journal of Family Issues, 40, 1154–1180. 10.1177/0192513X19829503 - DOI
    1. Bernier A, Carlson SM, & Whipple N (2010). From external regulation to Self regulation: early parenting precursors of young children’s executive functioning. Child Development, 81, 326–339. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01387.x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types