Investigating the Child Trauma Knowledge of Adoptive Parents: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Veritably, many adoptees have experienced trauma. In fact, the very nature of being adopted can be traumatic for some young people. While it is imperative that adoptive parents have the requisite knowledge about trauma to help adoptees deal with this issue, studies that examine this knowledge are nominal, at best. This exploratory cross-sectional study investigated adoptive parents’ (N = 206) perceived and actual knowledge about child trauma. All participants had adopted at least one child from the public child welfare system. Results indicate dissonance between participants’ perceived trauma knowledge and actual trauma knowledge. Further, data suggest that individuals who have had trauma training are more likely to inaccurately assess their actual knowledge about trauma. After a brief review of literature, this paper will explicate findings from this study and discuss salient implications derived from the findings.