NCJ Number
225694
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 32 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 1084-1088
Date Published
December 2008
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether preadoptive child sexual abuse (CSA) was associated with more placement moves, adoption disruption, and inconsistent parental commitment on adoption adjustment.
Abstract
Results found that children with preadoptive histories of CSA compared to those who were not sexually abused had greater odds of experiencing four or more moves in care, adoption disruptions, and inconsistent parental commitment. This relationship held after controlling for the effects of gender and age of removal from the biological home. Controlling for these confounding variables eliminates some alternative explanations for variance across moves in care, adoption disruptions, and parental commitment and therefore strengthens the association of preadoptive CSA on these dependent variables. These findings are consistent with previous reports of more placement moves and adoption disruptions among children with preadoptive CSA. The emotional and behavioral effects of sexual abuse might overly burden adoptive parents to the point of jeopardizing their commitment to their adopted child and jeopardize the adoptive placement. Data originated from families participating in Illinois’ Adoption and Guardianship Preservation Services program; the sample consisted of 117 parents with adopted children. References