Bidirectional effects of parenting and child behavior in internationally adopting families.

Abstract

Adoption marks a radical transition in caregiving for thousands of children adopted internationally from institutional care; however, very little is known about the quality of this parenting compared to other populations or the transactional effects of parent and child characteristics in post-adoption families during the transition to family care. The current study examined parental sensitivity/responsiveness and structure/limit-setting in a group of 68 children adopted internationally from institutions (41 girls, 27 boys; M age = 26.13 months, SD=4.99) and their parents over the first year following adoption and compared them to a sample of non-adoptive families (26 girls, 26 boys; M age = 27.65 months, SD=5.71). Results indicated no mean-level differences in parenting quality on either dimension between adoptive and non-adoptive parents. For post-institutionalized youth, higher quality parental structure and limit-setting soon after adoption predicted reduced child regulation difficulties eight months later; however, initial child regulation did not predict later parenting. There were no cross-lagged relations for parental sensitivity/responsiveness. Higher quality preadoptive care for children was associated with higher scores on both sensitivity/responsiveness and structure and limit-setting among adoptive parents. Less growth stunting, indicative of less preadoptive adversity, was associated with parents’ use of more effective structure and limit-setting behaviors. Policies should promote better preadoptive care abroad, such as lower caregiver-child ratios, as well as early adoption. At least in families exhibiting generally high sensitivity/responsiveness, interventions should target parental structure and limit-setting to have the greatest effect on child behavioral regulation in the immediate years post-adoption.

Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism, Parenting Quality, and ADHD Symptoms

“…These findings lend credence to efforts by several research groups to promote parental responsiveness, sensitivity, and nurturance among parents of maltreated and PI children (Dozier et al, 2012) and are consistent with recent findings showing better social competence (i.e., decreased social reticence with an unfamiliar peer) among PI children who received a supportive FC intervention compared with those who remained in the institution (Almas et al, 2015). Although it is possible that a bidirectional relationship exists between children's parenting quality and our outcome variables (e.g., children with initial hypocortisolism and regulation problems may be more challenging to parent), a recent study by our group (Lawler, Koss, & Gunnar, 2017) provides evidence for a unidirectional, predictive effect of early parenting on later child regulation in this population.…”

Pubertal stress recalibration reverses the effects of early life stress in postinstitutionalized children

“…Simply removing children from deprivation and placing them in supportive, well-resourced homes does not appear to be sufficient to allow the HPA axis to recalibrate. This is the case even when the parents in those homes score very high on observational measures of parenting quality (16) and children report high levels of perceived support (8). However, development may allow windows of opportunity for recalibration.…”

Moderation of parenting by inhibitory control in the prediction of the common and unique variance of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention

“…Six scales were rated from these observations: (a) quality of guidance (i.e., the extent to which the mother dynamically adjusts her cognitive guidance to child needs); (b) supportive presence (i.e., the emotional support offered by the mother to her child); (c) effective structure and limit setting (i.e., the mother's ability to structure and appropriately limit the child's behavior during the task); (d) acceptation of the child (i.e., the way the mother responds to her child's reactions or initiatives, the degree to which she accepts these reactions, and the degree to which she accepts her child in general); (e) respect for child's autonomy (i.e., the extent to which the mother acts in a manner that aims to recognize and respect her child's individuality, motivations, and perceptions during the task); and (f) low hostility (i.e., low levels of anger, denigration, or rejection of the child by the mother). These scales are based on Oppenheim, Emde, and Wamboldt (1996; scales a and d) and Erickson, Sroufe, and Egeland (1985; all other scales), and are frequently used to assess the quality of parenting behaviors (e.g., Corapci, Benveniste, & Bilge, 2018; de Jong & Leseman, 2001; Gini, Oppenheim, & Sagi-Schwartz, 2007; Lawler, Koss, & Gunnar, 2017; Lucassen et al, 2015; Shlafer, Raby, Lawler, Hesemeyer, & Roisman, 2015; Stoltz, Beijers, Smeekens, & Dekovic, 2017). Details regarding ratings for each scale are provided in the online-only Supplementary Materials.…”