Incidence, severity and preadoption child factors in Spanish adopted adolescents' behavior problems.

Abstract

Research comparing samples of adoptees and non-adoptees at all ages frequently observes a greater psychological vulnerability in the adopted group, manifested as a higher rate of behavioral problems. Problems become more evident or severe during adolescence. Despite the relevance of Spain in the international adoption landscape in previous decades, studies with Spanish samples are limited. This paper contributes to fill this gap by describing the incidence and severity of behavioral problems, reported by parents, in a sample of Spanish adolescent adoptees and analyzing the role of child preadoptive factors. Parental CBCL reports of 64 Spanish adopted adolescents were compared with normative scores in Spain. The results showed no differences between adopted adolescents and normative scores in total and broadband scales. However, a significant group of adolescents show clinical scores that require attention of social and mental health services. Boys show higher externalizing and total scores. Differences in age at adoption groups were found in social, aggression and externalizing problems, showing a nonlinear pattern were adolescents adopted in their preschool years show more problems those adopted after and before that age. Adolescents coming from Asia showed lower problems than other groups in several scales whereas those adopted from Eastern Europe showed more social problems than the other groups. Relevance for psychosocial intervention and limitations are discussed.