Now, the first study of its kind has found that most are psychologically healthy, though they’re at “slightly increased risk” for behavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or oppositional defiant disorder.
More than just “a negative teenager,” a child with ODD is persistently hostile and disobedient.
“These are kids who argue with their parents, who refuse to follow through on chores, maybe argue with their teachers, blame other people for their own mistakes,” says Margaret Keyes, a University of Minnesota research psychologist who led the study. The findings were published this month in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
Keyes and her research team studied 692 adolescents who had been adopted before age 2. When Keyes tested them, they were roughly 15 years old. Researchers conducted in-depth psychological interviews to check them for depression, anxiety, ADHD and ODD. For comparison, Keyes and colleagues also interviewed a control group of teenagers raised by their biological parents.
“We found that most of the adolescents ”” adopted and non-adopted ”” were overwhelmingly psychologically healthy,” Keyes says.
“Overwhelmingly” psychologically healthy?
And the objective criteria and data to support this conclusion?
Wouldn’t it be interesting to to contrast kids adopted and raised by an intact family with kids raised in families where one child had been adopted out (i.e., later children of a man or woman who gave one child up for adoption). In other words, control for the genetic factor mentioned in the article.
Oh great I finally have an excuse for maladjusted behavior and it’s too late. I had a chance to go full court wild bunch and I blew it. Good grades, keeping all 10 of the commandments, kindness to children and other living things, yes sirs, no ma’ams what a pathetic Pollyanna I was. Hey I smoked pot and drank some. Nyah back then it was hardly illegal. No great thumb in the eye of society there.
Now my sister, mom always like her best, she was trouble with a capital T rhymes with P and she was most likely ODD. How else to explain the …., oh fudge I just wanted to get back at her for all those noodgies and Indian burns and my favorite Barbie. Barbie BBQ is not funny sis!!! She was and is depressingly normal.
I was adopted at 10 days of age, my (non blood) sister was adopted when she was 5 days old. My one cousin was adopted at infancy as were two other cousins. This was in the day when you sometimes did not tell a child they were adopted. I was told when I was 7 after my dad died.
People would sometimes be tacky enough to ask ” don’t you ever wonder about your real mother” my reply was ” I don’t have a make believe mom, she is real. See flesh, blood not imaginary.”
PS, Words Matter,
I think my family would fit that scenario. My husband and I had a child before we were married, who we gave up for adoption when he was just days old. ( I was only 17 and not ready to be the mom a child needs) We later married and had two children. Who are now both adults, one with a child of his own.
My wife’s parents had trouble conceiving and first adopted a baby boy and a year later adopted my wife when she was 6 weeks old. When my wife was a few months old they were able to conceive and had 2 more children. Her parents told her from an early age how she was adopted so for her it was never an issue. Later when her younger sister would taunt her in the middle of an argument, “Oh yeah? Well you’re adopted!” Her mother would shout from the other room, “That’s right Rachel, at least I got to pick her!”
My adopted son has depression, and I and the doctors believe this is likely due to the fact that his birth mother smoked the entire pregnancy. Apparently the literature is clear that smoking, drinking and doing drugs during pregnancy cause the child to be at much greater risk for psychological disorders. I think that women who give children up for adoption are also less likely to take care of themselves during the pregnancy, and this may well be why adopted children are having to deal with these unfortunate sequelae.
Having raised two adopted children, my personal opinion is it depends highly at what age you adopt them. One of our sons we adopted as a newborn, the other had been in an orphanage in Korea for six months with we understand little attention other than having a bottle shoved in his mouth when he started to cry. For the newborn, I wouldn’t say we have faced any different issues than natural parents. But for the other, raising him was unbelievably difficult starting from when he was in sixth grade, in terms of emotional problems, withdrawal and depression, self destructive impulses, uncontrollable rages, etc., and a series of counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists. At one point we had to remove anything breakable and all sharp objects such as knives and scissors from our house. How much of that came from being adopted at an older age and how much from temperament, I don’t know. One doctor we did consult said it could be a result of what they call “attachment disorder,” primarily due to not having a mother figure to bond with in the first few months of life. I do know that when we first met him at the airport, he was so underdeveloped from lack of attention and exercise that he could not turn over without help, or crawl, and if you put him on his stomach he would suffocate because he could not raise his head.
Fortunately I think my son is largely through that and is now a sophomore in college, although I have to say in many ways he really damaged his life in his teenage years, and it has aged me by at least ten to twenty years over my biological age.
Ali B,
I was 17 during my first pregnancy and I was a healthful diet fool. I never smoked cigarettes and stopped any and all other smoking and drinking of alchohol. I also exercised daily especially my LaMaz stuff.
I loved and still love that child. I was not going to give him less than 100% love and care while he was in the womb. I would hate to answer to God with the excuse the arrangement was just temporary.
If you love your child I don’t care if you give him or her up for adoption or not, you are going to treat that child like gold from God while she is in your womb.
Paula, I only wish most pregnant girls were like you. Unfortunately, my son’s birth mother was not as mature and forward thinking. It seems she was in a small group who were all getting pregnant with their boyfriends on purpose, not thinking of the health of the baby or who was going to raise the child. Anyway, she did a loving thing by letting him be adopted, and she seemed to be pretty choosy about the adoptive parents. I send her letters and pictures twice a year. I feel like it’s the very least I can do. Plus, some day when I tell my son about that, maybe he’ll feel even more loved ( if that’s possible!)
After reading this article, I wonder how the authors could conclude that adopted kids are at a higher risk for ADD and ODD when information about families of origin may be (or is probably) missing. An essential part of any type of psychological interviewing/testing is information about parents and siblings. While this info was available for the “control” or non-adopted kids, how much was available for those who were adopted? And without that piece, is it valid to draw signficant conclusions?
Also, the article states that while most adolescents are over-
whelmingly psychologically healthy, adopted teens are at a
SLIGHTLY higher risk for ADHD and ODD. It makes me wonder why NPR chose the headline “Adopted Teens Face Higher Risk for
ADHD” vs. something like “Most Adolescents Psychologically Healthy”.
Maybe positive headlines don’t draw as many readers??