Adopted Adolescents at School: Social Support and Adjustment

Abstract

There is a need of additional research into the social aspects of adoptees’ school experiences. For that purpose, the present study used a sample of adopted ( n = 541) and non-adopted ( n = 582) adolescents from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Spain. Specifically, we analyzed social support at school (from classmates and teachers), explored adjustment differences between domestic adoptees, intercountry adoptees, and non-adopted adolescents, and examined whether adoption status and adjustment problems explain potential differences in support from teachers and from classmates. Results showed more difficulties in domestic adoptees than in the other two groups. Furthermore, differences were found in the role of adoption status and adjustment problems in classmate and teacher support: once conduct problems were taken into account, the association between adoption status and classmate support became non-significant. In contrast, both conduct problems and adoption status were significant factors associated with lower teacher support.