Exam #3

relationship between adoptive and birth parents

-*character* of adopters and birth relatives shape relationship in the adoptive kinship network: adults relationship skills, ability to manage difficult emotions, willingness to negotiate respective power positions, beliefs about the benefits of contact -*collaboration*: not everyone will will have equality but rather communication, mutual respect and flexibility/compromise -*lack of cultural script*: how does this unfold; typically is made up as families go along -*roles & needs change over time*: important to remain flexible and allow for things and relationships to evolve over time

learning disabilities

-5% of children enrolled in public schools (2.4 million children)

Adoptive Family Structure

-Ambiguous loss: the incongruence between physical and psychological/ emotional presence/absence" -Boundary Ambiguity: family members inability to determine who is in and out of the family -residential and residential family members - role ambiguity

Impact of adoption on birth parents

-Depression: Post Adoption Depression Syndrome (PADS)- could be worse if they suddenly become parents, or maybe if it wasn't as easy as they thought it would be-identity & Adjustment issues: slow to adjust, worry, usually experience a pivotal moment (ex: first doctors appointment, registering for school, etc.)- coping mechanisms

stressors during post deployment

-Honeymoon period: is followed by a period of destabilization -Reintegration (renegotiate rules and life style) -Post-traumatic stress syndrome (5-7%) (invisible injuries) -Caregiver: burden resulting from trauma or injury ; many caregivers have to care from family members when they return -A 400% increase in relationship problems within first six months of reintegration -Increased family violence: rate of child abuse also goes up, combat veterans more likely to experience if they are suffering from PTSD; the longer the deployment the more likely for the abuse -Substance abuse: use to numb; deal with PTSD and connect to with others -Partners renegotiate roles and responsibilities and the partners who have been alone have cope with loss of independence. -Rate of child maltreatment is 2% as likely to physically abuse and 4% to neglect

stressors for children during deployment

-Internalizing and externalizing behaviors -Academic difficulties: struggle concentrating; more likely to act out -Attention-seeker behaviors -Regression -Attention problems -Difficulty connecting with Deployed parent -Poorer overall health

40; 17; 50; 40; 70

-__% of military personnel less than 25 -__% are women (increase since 2000) -__% of military personnel are married (45% never married and 4.9% are divorced) -__% have children (42% of children are less than 5 and 5% are 19-22) -__% are caucasian

infertility effects on marital relationships

-reduced sex pleasure: sexual deesire, decrease in inteercourse, difficulty achieveing orgasm (intercourse becomes more of a chore; leads to dread) -declines in marital satisfaction -fear partner may leave (affairs and divorce: couples actually report they have left due to infertility and when partner pulled away they sought someone else) -doubt partners affection -resentment and rage towards partner -question the purpose and meaning of marriage -unable to support if partners coping styles differ

psychological effects of infertility

-repetitive cycle of hope and failure -profound sense of grief and loss -lose hope of becoming biological parents, giving birth, breastfeeding, passing on your genes (grief experiences they thought they were going to have) -hopeless and helpless -lowered life satisfaction: becomes pervasive - feel inadequate or feminine - shame, guilt, anger, denial, frustration -stigmatized (people don't understand) -depression -anxiety -decreased self-esteem -role failure: (ex: not feeling like a good enough wife)

stressors during pre-employment

-shock and anger: anticipation of military member leaving -anticipation of loss: concern that the military member may never return (death) or return in altered state (mental or physical disability) -conflict: increase between all family members - tend to put life on hold: sometime there is very short notice can be hard to plan future -need to talk about money and will: spouse needs to understand families finances before the deployment

demographics of childfree couples

-typically *white* and live in *suburban/urban areas* -more likely to hold *higher education* (almost half of women that hold a college degree are childfree) -couples more likely to be dual income in professional/managerial occupations -*less* likely to be religious; more equalitarian in gender roles (less traditional GR attitudes); more likely to be *liberal*

Cereal Palsy

1 in 323 -2nd most common developmental disorder; but most common motor disability

Autism

1 in 59 children -most common developmental disorder

prevalence of children with disabilities

1 in 6 children; between 2014-2016 prevalence increased significantly from 5.7% to 6.99%

down syndrome

1 in 700 -most common chromosomal disorder

supporting military families

1. Promoting awareness 2. Increasing knowledge 3. enhancing practice skills 4. increasing engagement -use *family stress theory* to increase resources for family and bolster social support

causes of infertility

1/3 female factors (not releasing mature eggs, scaring in F. tubes, structural/hormonal issues not allowing eggs to attach) and male factors (quantity/quality of sperm) and interaction between male and female factors

ADHD

11% of cases (6.4 million children) are diagnosed with this ______. -characterized by inappropriate levels of inattention and distractibility and or hyperactivity/ impulsitivity that cause impairment in adaptive functioning

voluntarily

6% of families aged 15-44 according to national survey of family and growth are _________ childfree

5

average _ years with uncertainty and treatment

open adoptions

birth and adoptive families fully disclose information, there is initial and ongoing contact, all identities are known and form the adoption triad

white

children that are adopted are most likely to be _______ (48%), then Hispanic (22%), African American (18%), 2+ races (8%), and finally Asian (1%)

Relationship between adoptive parents and birth parents

contact: adoptive parents who *had more contact* with birth parents were *more satisfied*- was associated with more adopted related conversations-birth mothers had less unresolved grief with this- birth mothers were more satisfied with _________ arrangement regardless with amount, had less unresolved grief -*grief*: birth mothers experienced the greatest grief when there was originally some contact but then it stopped - majority birth mothers felt good about being contacted but NONE felt negative about being contacted from the child they placed up for adoption -*children who are adopted young tend to do better*- lots of variability: age of placement, pre-adoptive environment

44

Foster Care adoptions account for __% of adoptions

7

Intercountry adoptions account for __% of adoptions -time consuming

59

Private adoptions account for __% of all adoptions -largest percentage

60

__% americans have some sort of personal experience with adoption

15

__% of couples are infertile and 50% of these will never bear children -younger couples are less likely to be infertile

23

__% of women (30-44) are childless

20-30

__-__% chance of conceiving each month

men

_____ tend approach infertility in a task-instrumental way; they tend to want to solve problems, keep feelings to self and they more they talk the more distressed they feel (more likely to withdrawal) -view infertility as disappointment or "bad break", but not tragedy the hardest part of this experience for them is witnessing partners pain and not being able to solve it

childfree

a couple that has NO desire or plan to have children

children with disability

encompass a broad range of conditions that result in cognitive and pr physical impairments -identified by age 22 and typically life throughout the lifespan

1/6

fraction of couples experiencing infertility

adolescence

this age group wonders why birth parents placed them up for adoption; are also more likely to employ intentions to search but not initiate searching behaviors

1/3

this many adoptions have some contact -most likely in private domestic adoptions (95% openness in these cases)

4.8

total number of people part of military families -1.7 million are children -1 million are spouses -2.1 million are military personnel -there are more military family members than military personnel

family response to initial diagnosis

similar reactions to trauma/crisis -stress: when experiencing higher levels of stress there is lower levels of emotional well being, particularly mothers; can lead to impaired functioning; biggest predicator of stress was negative reception on child's disability for both moms and dads; mothers negative outlook stemmed from child's "challenging" behaviors and for fathers it was related to social acceptance of the child diagnosis: families response can depend on diagnosis -how parents respond to stress can really help/hinder response and development of child (cycle: the more stressed out a parent is the more behavior problems the child exhibits, the more behavior problems child exhibits the more stressed the parents become)

6

the average age of an adopted child

1.5

there are over ____ million children adopted which account for about *2%* of all children

open

there is a trend towards adoptions being more _____, although it was a secret in the past due to a result of a stigma that children born outside of marriage are illegitimate -adoptees also had unresolved loss when they found out they adopted later in life

tips for working with parents with children with disabilities

-approach the situation from a *family systems* perspectives: include the entire family, what one person does effect everyone (ex: stress-ripple effect) -examine the families attitudes, perceptions and expectations -evaluate the parents stress levels, emotional well-being and coping strategies -ensure that the necessary supports are in place -give the parents a voice in discussing how they feel in response to raising a child with a disability. (ex: welcome to holland poem) -educate the family (common behaviors, how to facilitate adjustment, etc.) -assessment should be ongoing: relationships change; children and families adapt and have changing needs

caregiving tips

-be informed -get support -be an advocate - be empowering -take care of yourself

risk factors for children with disabilities

-child's behavior: more behavior problems, more stress parents have -locus of control: lower perceived control parent has, higher parenting stress -emotion focused coping more problematic (manage stress through avoidance, denial, escape mechanism)

childfree effects on personal and social life

-childfree effects on personal and social life: don't want to sacrifice freedom, privacy, personal time, etc; time together lessened; children are expensive; seen as demanding -lack of desire for children -social awareness: environment is over populated, world is dangerous place that they don't want to bring children into (after 9/11 a lot of families decided to be childfree), fear of failure (but this is a small reason)

Bonding and attachment

-children placed in the first *12 months* experience no attachment differences compared to those continually connected to family members; after 12 months risk for attachment problems increases (risk of experiencing both primary and secondary losses increases) -previous losses of adoptive parent (loss of birth child; hoped for birth child; status; biological continuity; child without negative experiences); influence *bonding* with baby/child -losses constrain attachment and bonding -children placed as infants experience loss around *8* as they go through the recognition of their losses around this time -coping with *inevitable losses* is critical for healthy attachments and bonding

protective factors for infertility

-communication skills: better communicators are better at handling crisis -relationship quality: more adjusted the better -social support (this can also be threatened during the process as well) - religious or spiritual factors (this can also be threatened during the process as well) -medical treatment -couples therapy: educate about and normalize the experience of infertility (know what to expect), encourage communication and emotional expression, establish congruent perceptions (ethical and moral questions/dilemmas: how far are they willing togo medically), acknowledge grief and loss, employ positive reinterpretation (help to re-establish lifes or re-define life identity), redefine identity (ex: not being biological parent but being adoptive parents)

Adoptees as Adults

-continued identity development (not a rejection of foster family if have contact with adoptive parents; tend to choose jobs that help other adoptive children) -gain sufficiency through skill acquisition -questions about birth families especially parent's health histories -report being close to adoptive families

fostering resilience

-establish family rituals -use positive language -write family story -be prepared to answer strangers intrusive questions -increase knowledge of child development

Adolescent adoptees

-experience a more complicated individuation process (have a hard time establishing how they are similar or different; developing a cohesive identity; dealing with "what if's) -have more parent-child conflicts (compared to nonadoptive families); mothers and adolescents report greater conflict with adoptive child vs nonadopted children; observers stated that conflict stemmed from adolescent's treatment of parents

research findings on childfree families

-finances: earn about the same as couples with children, they are just able to spend it as they like - career achievement: more time and energy for career; less disruptions (more successful in their career goals) -gender roles: more equalitarian in decision making and responsibilities (more marital satisfaction) marital satisfaction: the same as those who have had children - could be because they have more time and energy fr one another (more likely to improve satisfaction over marriage compared to those who transition to parenthood) -life satisfaction: MORE satisfied than couples with children, do NOT report regret for decision or report being lonely (seems to suggest that they made an informed decision)

stressors of military families

-frequent relocations -long work hours - physical seperations: both from military members and other extended family members - deployment (multiple across career) -homecoming -threat of injury or death -difficulty staying in touch with family and friends -unfamiliar surroundings -career difficulties for the spouse: can be difficult due to relocations and having to handle home projects due to long military long hours (military wives not being able to practice law due to moving between states) -strain on marriage

physical effects of infertility

-invasive treatments -hormonal effects from treatment -betrayal of the body for nott being able to main pregnancy -feel physically damaged -impotence: sexual dysfunction; people psychologically damaged from thinking there body can't produce a child -sexual dysfunction -fatigue -somatic symptoms (headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, etc.)

infertility effects on family relationships

-lack of social -don't tell family members - family and friends don't know how to respond (try to be sensitive usually) -social withdrawal (ex: stop going to baby showers) -difficulty discussing with others leads to social isolation (which can snowball into depression/anxiety)

protective factors

-marital quality -positive family environment -family cohesion: higher relates to better adaptive behavior, less problem behaviors and more positive interaction with peers -parental involvement: higher results to child's independence and increased understanding of roles and responsibilities in social situations -parenting self esteem/ parental efficacy: lowers parental stress -problem focused coping: seeking to ones problem and social support (increased well being, decreased pessimism and less depression ad increased positive affect)

searching for & reuniting with the birth family

-more *normative now* than previously (use to indicate a problem/ being upset and now indicates curiosity ) -effects *identity development*; women more likely to wonder about this and initiate searching and express interest in meeting birth families -*adolescents* exhibit greater intentions to search but not actually searching behaviors: not related to family functioning, adolescent problems or family closeness; is associated with greater openness in adoption; less satisfaction with openness level and higher curiosity levels -should not be threatening to adoptive parents; children are just trying to understand who they are (part of the normative identity experience)

adoptive parents

-more likely to be *married (68%)* then single (26%) -more likely to be *non-Hispanic white* -most have completed *beyond a HS education (70%)*

telling the child of adoption

-needs to be a *series* of stories, not just one big telling of the family story/history -need too be responsive to the child's developmental needs and change over time *language matters*: adoptive parent needs to have flexibility (especially in how they present information) which includes needing to have developmental knowledge

contributing factors of stress for children

-non deployed parent's mental health -age of child: most negative results for children in middle childhood -gender: girls reported more social issues -time deployed: longer the parent is deployed the worse the outcome -place of residence: children connected to military base were less affected by parental deployment and had more positive outcomes than children living in non-military communities; shows social support is necessary

childfree family stigmas

-not seen as a family -seen as selfish -labeled as less sensitive and loving -maladjusted -immature: unwilling to undertake responsibility -unhappy, unfillied, lives are incomplete (research proves this to be false thought) -child haters - pro natalist bias: the idea that we are a child oriented society, everyone is expected to have children and having children is seen as thee "right" thing to do -women report more stigma from being childfree then men (motherhood is considered a female gender role were men can be successful in other roles)

trends leading to childfree couples

-postponements of marriage and first child - reproductive technology (ie birth control) - women seeking higher education levels (education level = most important determinant of fertility) -increase of women in the workplace

more; higher; less

adolescents are ______ likely to be receiving psychiatric treatment (externalizing behavior)- have ______ heavier and drug use issues, higher prosocial behaviors; but are LESS withdrawn- better family communication patterns = better adjustments-satisfaction with contact with birth parent = _______ externalizing behavior

adoption triad

adoptee, birth family and adoptive family

age 13-15

age group of telling children of adoption understand that they have 2 sets of parents, ambivalence *resurfacing grief*, re-ask question "Why am I adopted" - depth and emotional search for birth parent, integrate adoption into ones sense of self

age 6-12

age group of telling children of adoption understands adoption and that given away but generally positive feelings that lead to uncertainty, sense of loss, grieving for birth parent and discomfort-ask questions such as: "Why am I adopted? Where are my birth parents?"

age 1-5

age group of telling children of adoption-little to know understanding, but set stage

age 16-19

age group of telling children of adoptionseek to rework family/adoption story, identity formation - "Who am I" in relation to adoption, new curiosity, consider searching

Semi-open adoptions

allows for some contact and information to be shared through a mediator (agency caseworker, lawyer, anonymous email, etc.) -do not share names or addresses

women

approach infertility in socio-emotional costs (look at the loss experienced) - see partners withdrawal as non-supportive (creates a vicious cycle) -seek out social support -view infertility as the most upsetting experience of their lives; experience tremendous role failure

100,000

in 2015 there were this many children eligible for adoption -*32% wait over 3 years to be adopted*

infertility

inability to attain and maintain a successful pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected success (at age 35 the definition changes) -aka: couples who desire children but are unable to have children

well-adjusted; more; worse

majority of adoptive children are ____________, but smaller notable group leads to differences-experience ________ externalizing-similar IQ but _________ academics than non-adopted peers but better IQ and better academics than non-adopted peers (those in foster care)

foster parent

more than half of children are adopted by...

closed adoptions

no identifying information about birth family or adoption family shared, NO CONTACT -state laws vary but access to records can be achieved at 18 if the court is petitioned due to medical necessity