Psychological Adjustment in Intercountry and Domestic Adopted Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Understanding if adoptees present a higher risk of developing psychological problems, compared to non-adopted peers, is a research topic that has aroused considerable interest. This paper reviews research results focusing on the psychological adjustment in intercountry and domestic adopted adolescents. Two hundred and fifty-eight publications were initially identified in different databases but, due to previously defined inclusion criteria, only twelve studies, published between January 2004 and June 2016, were analyzed. Results indicate that, when compared to non-adopted peers, these adoptees showed more psychological problems, namely in externalized behaviors, and a higher attendance at mental health services. A considerable relationship was found between the age at adoption and the likelihood of the development of behavioral and emotional problems. Nevertheless, the relevance of taking into account adoption related variables in order to understand the variability of adoptees’ psychological adjustment is also underlined. This systematic review draws attention to the need for further studies in this topic resorting to more complex research designs which will allow for the identification of different pathways that may lead to (mal) adaptive functioning, psychological (mal) adjustment and the wellbeing of adolescent adoptees.