Parental Satisfaction in the Adoption of Children with Learning Disorders: The Role of Behavior Problems.

We sought to determine the extent to which children's behavior problems would mediate the relationship between children's learning disorders and adoption satisfaction using nationally representative data from 1,865 adoptive parents. We found that high levels of behavior problems, operationalized as...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family Relations Vol. 58; no. 5; pp. 621 - 634
Main Authors: Nalavany, Blace A., Glidden, Laraine M., Ryan, Scott D.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell December 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:We sought to determine the extent to which children's behavior problems would mediate the relationship between children's learning disorders and adoption satisfaction using nationally representative data from 1,865 adoptive parents. We found that high levels of behavior problems, operationalized as internalizing and externalizing behaviors, occurred more frequently in children with learning disorders, supporting our mediational model. We concluded that it was the behavior problems, not the learning disorders, that were most problematic for parents. Implications for both pre- and postadoption services are highlighted. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.