Browsing by Subject "Adoption"

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Adoptee information seeking: changes between adolescence and emerging adulthood and the impact of adoption communicative openness.
(2009-05) Skinner-Drawz, Brooke Alison
This dissertation examined changes in information seeking intentions and behaviors between adolescence and emerging adulthood for a group of adoptees who did not have direct contact with birth relatives in adolescence. Associations between information seeking in emerging adulthood and life cycle events typical of emerging adulthood, gender, and Adoption Communicative Openness were also examined. Data from 119 adoptees and their adoptive mothers were used from Waves 2 (1996-2000) and 3 (2005-2008) of the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project (Grotevant & McRoy, 1998). Degree of information seeking between adolescence (Wave 2) and emerging adulthood (Wave 3) increased for the majority of adoptees (62.2%). Approximately 16% of adoptees experienced no change in information seeking and 22% of adoptees experienced a decrease in information seeking. Females were more likely to exhibit a greater increase in information seeking change between Waves 2 and 3 and information seeking at Wave 3 than males. Life cycle events typical of emerging adulthood including living out of adoptive parents' home, being in a committed romantic relationship, and being a parent were not associated with information seeking in emerging adulthood. Number of life cycle events experienced also was not associated with information seeking in emerging adulthood. Adoption Communicative Openness was positively associated with degree of information seeking in emerging adulthood. Results suggest that adoptee information seeking is a dynamic process that takes place over several life stages and that open communication about adoption within the adoptive family supports adoptee information seeking.
Beyond The Sum Score: A Multidimensional Examination Of Allostatic Load Using Principal Component Analysis And Latent Profile Analysis In Previously Institutionalized Youth
(2023-09) Zhong, Danruo
Allostatic Load (AL), the stress-related physiological toll on the body, has been significantly associated with long-term health in humans. In this dissertation study, I examined the impact of early institution care on allostatic load in adolescents, using 13 biomarker data collected from 97 previously institutionalized youth who were adopted internationally from orphanage-liked institutions (PI; 61 females and 36 males; age range 12.02 to 21.39 years; Mean age = 16.31, SD age= 2.4 years) and 96 youth born and raised by birth families (Non-adopted, NA; 50 females and 46 males; age range 12.11 to 21.82 years; Mean age = 15.24, SD age= 2.35 years). Three distinct statistical approaches, namely, the Group Allostatic Load Index (GALI), the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and the Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) were used to characterize the allostatic load. ANCOVA, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and multinomial logistic regression were utilized to examine how AL was associated with the experience of early institutional care. Our findings revealed a significant association between early institutional care and elevated allostatic load in adolescents. The sex difference was also found, such that males were more vulnerable to elevated AL levels than females. Moreover, age was positively associated with allostatic load. Furthermore, the construct of AL transcended beyond a single sum score, as evidenced by the detected multi-dimensions of AL and various underlying AL profiles among the studied individuals. Finally, three methods in the present study each offered unique perspectives that collectively enriched our understanding of AL. Taken together, this dissertation study underlined early health risks in youths who experienced early institutional care, highlighting the need for early, targeted, and personalized intervention programs for the ELS-impacted, at-risk population.
Children of the State: Children in the Child Welfare System, Minnesota. Executive Summary.
(School of Social Work, University of Minnesota., 1992) Wattenberg, Esther; Cassidy, Donald W.
Community Wildlife Management in Tanzania: An Analysis of Devolution, Adoption: Costs and Benefits of Conservation and Intra Household Dynamics in Communities around Burunge Wildlife Management Area
(2023-05) Mukewa, Elizabeth
Most of Africa’s biodiversity is found outside the protected area network of national game parks and game reserves on local community land. Therefore, success in the conservation of Africa’s biodiversity depends on shifting goals and priorities to the local level in a way that allows participation and collaborative partnerships with local communities to community based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives. These initiatives take different names in Sub-Saharan Africa but are all coined under the same principle of participatory development and conservation to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Tanzania where I conducted this dissertation research, CBNRM takes the form of Community Wildlife Management (CWM) with gazettement of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) managed and operated by communities on communal village lands. In this dissertation, I focused on three areas: 1) devolution through procedural and distributive justice and effectiveness of the governance structure; 2) motivational factors for adopting community wildlife management, benefits and costs of conservation; and 3) conservation enterprise projects and their effects on intrahousehold bargaining power for Masai and Mbungwe women using Burunge Wildlife Management Area as a case study. Through my research, I found that one, devolution in CWM has only partially been successful through procedural and distributive justice with various challenges. Two, several factors are important for communities to adopt CWM into their livelihoods, although most benefits are at the community level and some households experience huge losses from human wildlife conflicts due to crop and livestock depredation and various opportunity costs. Three, conservation enterprise projects have great potential to improve women’s intrahousehold bargaining power in the decision-making process although social and cultural gender norms pose major challenges. Based on my results, I discuss the implications and provide future recommendations for community wildlife management in Tanzania to contribute to several SDGs through wildlife conservation and participatory development involving livelihood diversification activities for indigenous communities living with wildlife on their land.
Critical Factors in the Willingness to Adopt Innovative Wood-based Building Materials in the Construction Industry: The Case of CLT
(2017-10) Laguarda Mallo, Maria
Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), has increased the possibilities of building with wood. CLT consists of multi-layer panels, manufactured with lumber boards that are glued together, alternating the direction of their fibers for each layer. The successful introduction of CLT into the Canadian market indicates that there is potential for further market penetration in North America, and more specifically the United States. To increase the understanding of the market potential for CLT in the U.S., this dissertation aimed at identifying the critical factors influencing the willingness of U.S. construction professionals to adopt innovative wood-based construction materials, such as CLT. The overall objective was achieved by: (a) investigating the level of awareness, perceptions, and willingness to adopt CLT among structural engineers and construction firms; (b) developing a conceptual model including the most critical factors that influence the adoption of innovate wood-based construction materials among structural engineers and construction firms; and (c) identifying distinct market segments for CLT adoption in the U.S. The outcomes from this research help fill the gap in the knowledge about the market adoption process for innovative wood-based materials in the construction industry. This study also contributes to advance the development of the CLT industry in the U.S. by increasing the demand of wood-based construction materials and supporting the creation of employment in a sector of critical importance to the U.S. economy. Findings from this thesis provide useful information that will help these actors accelerate the adoption of CLT through well-designed educational programs, demonstration projects, marketing strategies, and policy incentives.
Cultural socialization in transracial, transnational adoptive families: A seven-year follow-up
(2015-08) Hu, Alison
Cultural socialization, or education regarding ethnicity and race, was examined in transracial, transnational adoptive families. This longitudinal, multi-informant study represented a seven-year follow-up with adopted Korean American adolescents (ages 13-20) and their adoptive parents (N = 116). The study examined changes in parental cultural socialization over time, the longitudinal relationship of parental cultural socialization on peer cultural socialization, and the independent and collective relationships of parental and peer cultural socialization practices on adolescent ethnic identity and discrimination. Parents reported Time 1 and Time 2 parental cultural socialization; adoptees reported Time 2 parental cultural socialization, Time 2 peer cultural socialization, Time 2 ethnic identity, and Time 2 discrimination. Cultural socialization was examined via ethnic and racial socialization. Results indicated parent-reports of parental ethnic socialization decreased and racial socialization increased between childhood and adolescence. Parents also reported higher levels of parental ethnic and racial socialization than did adolescents at Time 2. Contrary to hypothesis, parental ethnic socialization in childhood was negatively associated with adolescent ethnic identity, but parental ethnic socialization in adolescence was positively associated with adolescent ethnic identity. With regards to discrimination, parental ethnic socialization in childhood and adolescence were both positively associated with perceived discrimination. Last, peer racial socialization in adolescence mediated the association between parental racial socialization in childhood and ethnic identity, as well as the association between parental racial socialization and perceived discrimination. The study highlights the racial and ethnic experiences of transracial, transnational adopted individuals, and illustrates the importance of longitudinal and multi-informant methodology.
Disability discrimination of prospective adoptive and foster parents
(2015-04) Fleming, Grace Piechler
Parenthood is a notion shared throughout the globe, but for persons with disabilities, the laws and regulations surrounding the adoptive and foster care process create unnecessary barriers. Vague health requirements, lack of protections for disabled prospective parents, and the patchwork of state laws threaten that disability impedes persons throughout the United States from becoming adoptive or foster parents. Prospective parents with disabilities may face categorical denials when seeking to adopt or foster children. Many face bias and speculation concerning their parenting abilities during their application process. The effects of these practices are felt not only by those who seek to expand their families, but also the growing number of children awaiting homes. Disability rights law has often focused on employment discrimination, but the Americans with Disabilities Act aimed to create equal opportunity beyond those boundaries, including within adoption and foster care systems. This article analyzes a fifty state survey of adoption and foster care laws and regulations to present several problems within this arena including inconsistencies in non-discrimination provisions, vague health requirements for prospective parents that allow for discrimination and bias, lack of professional knowledge in evaluation of prospective parents' ability to care for a child, and failure to include reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Fulfilling the best interests of the child must remain the paramount purpose of public and private agencies, but that should not mean that prospective parents with disabilities are denied the ability to adopt or foster when their home meets the best interests standard.
Externalizing behavior in post-institutionalized children: an examination of parent emotion socialization practices, respiratory-sinus arrhythmia, and skin conductance
(2014-05) Herrera, Adriana Marie
The early experience of social and emotional neglect, such as that seen in institutions for the care of orphaned or abandoned children, is associated with altered neurobiological functioning and elevated risk for externalizing behavior problems; however, many post-institutionalized children appear resilient to these effects. This resiliency calls into question how post-adoption parenting practices may contribute to the heterogeneous outcomes seen in these children. This study examined the moderating role of current parent emotion socialization practices on the relation between early caregiving and indices of children's autonomic nervous system functioning at baseline and in response to ecologically valid challenges. Etiological factors, behavioral, and physiological correlates for externalizing behavior were also examined. The sample consisted of 8 to 9-year-olds, and compared post-institutionalized (PI) internationally-adopted children with children internationally-adopted from foster care (PFC) and children raised by their biological families (NA). Parents self-reported on their encouragement of emotional expression and distress reactions to children's negative emotions. Externalizing behavior was measured by parent report. Children's basal level of respiratory-sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and non-specific skin conductance response (NS.SCR) were measured as well as reactivity to challenge. Results indicated that under conditions of high parental distress, PI children displayed a unique autonomic pattern characterized by high basal RSA, and less RSA withdrawal and greater NS.SCR reactivity within interpersonal contexts involving their parent. High parental distress was associated with lower basal RSA for the PFC group. The PI group evidenced elevated externalizing behaviors compared to comparison groups. Greater externalizing behaviors were seen for those PI children who displayed high basal RSA and NS.SCR augmentation to challenge in the context of high parental distress. Results suggest that post-adoption parenting practices, in conjunction with the child's physiology, contribute to the emergence of externalizing problems in PI children.
Family interactions and shared fate: associations with adopted adolescent adjustment
(2013-01) Anderson, Kayla N.
In recent years, research has suggested that adoption status and family interactions are associated with adolescent externalizing behaviors. Conversations that acknowledge racial and ethnic differences between international adoptees and adoptive parents may also be important for adjustment. However, this association has never been empirically validated. This study tests associations between family interactions, acknowledging racial and ethnic difference, and adolescent adjustment using a sample of 222 adolescent Korean adoptees and their families. Families that acknowledge racial and ethnic difference had adolescents with the fewest externalizing behaviors. General family interactions were associated with acknowledging difference, where positive adolescent communication and dominant mothers tended to be associated with acknowledging difference. Contradictory of general population research, generally positive communication across family members was associated with an increase in adolescent externalizing behavior. Future directions suggest examining the effects of acknowledging racial and ethnic difference in adoptive families for non-adopted sibling and parent adjustment. Future research should also further examine the positive association between communication and adolescent externalizing behaviors in an adoptive sample. Keywords: adoption, family interactions, Shared Fate, adolescent adjustment
Identifying the Factors that Constrain and Facilitate the Adoption of Agroforestry Practices by Minnesota and Wisconsin Agricultural Producers
(2024-05) Benning, Maxwell
Agroforestry practices are agricultural and natural resource management systems in which trees are incorporated with agricultural crops and/or livestock. Agroforestry practices, particularly windbreaks, silvopasture, alley cropping, riparian forest buffers, forest farming, and living snow fences, provide a variety of environmental, economic, and social benefits to agricultural communities and landscapes. Despite the services these systems offer, only 1.9% of farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin adopted at least one agroforestry practice by 2022. The purpose of this research was to identify the constraints to agroforestry adoption and opportunities to increase adoption by agricultural producers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Following producer interviews and a comprehensive review of the agroforestry adoption literature, three rounds of a mail survey were sent to producers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The survey collected data regarding current adoption of agroforestry practices, information on acceptable incentives and limiting constraints, the likelihood of adopting each practice, and demographic information. Binary logistic regressions were performed to identify the constraints, opportunities, and demographic data that significantly influenced the likelihood of adoption for each practice. The results indicate that windbreak adoption is enhanced by financial assistance programs, aesthetic values, and an alignment with producers' goals. Silvopasture adoption is enhanced by a minimization of competition between trees and forage, an alignment with producers' goals, and the lack of a woodlot on the farm. Alley cropping adoption is enhanced by technical assistance, aesthetic values, and a compatibility with the producers’ management and equipment and is likely to be adopted by younger producers and those with smaller farms. Riparian forest buffer adoption is enhanced by financial assistance programs and colleagues adopting riparian forest buffers. Forest farming adoption is enhanced by technical assistance, a compatibility with the producers’ management and equipment, and the presence of a woodlot. Finally, living snow fence adoption is enhanced by an alignment with producers' goals, the availability to manage trees, profit opportunities from the living snow fence, and colleagues adopting living snow fences. Natural resource technical assistance providers and policymakers can use these results to remove barriers and improve incentives for agroforestry practices, promoting agroforestry adoption among Minnesota and Wisconsin agricultural producers.
Identity profiles and psychological adjustment among adopted Korean American adolescents
(2012-08) Reichwald, Reed Tyler
Drawing upon social identity and intersectionality theories and research, I conducted a person-centered, multi-informant study of 158 pairs of adopted Korean American adolescents (AKAA) and their adoptive parents. Using cluster analytic procedures, I examined AKAA' patterns of identification across multiple social domains (ethnic, racial, and adoptive identities). The obtained clusters were validated empirically by comparing groups along relevant variables (e.g., engagement in ethnic and racial socialization, dissatisfaction with racial appearance, birth family interest, perceived discrimination, colorblind attitudes, diversity in friendship networks) on which they would be expected to differ . Finally, I examined the association between these identity profiles and psychological adjustment, including behavioral development and other measures of well-being. Results revealed the emergence of six conceptually unique identity clusters that differed significantly on the various validity constructs measured. However, the identity profiles were largely undifferentiated with respect to behavioral development per parent and adolescent reports on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Goodman, 1997). Group differences were found on broad psychological outcomes including life satisfaction, perceived school belongingness and peer competence, and school interest and motivation. Results confirm the importance of considering the collective impact of multiple social identities on a variety of outcomes.
Impact of task, structure, and environment on electronic health record adoption, use, and interoperability in hospitals.
(2010-06) Park, Young-Taek, M.P.H.
A paradigm in the field of Heath Informatics which has been taken for granted up until this point may be disappearing and a new paradigm may begin to take shape as paper-based medical record (PMR) systems are changing to the electronic health record (EHR) systems. Although the PMR has played a critical role in recording patient's clinical information, now many studies report that EHR systems improve quality of care beyond PMRs. For this reason, the governments across the world have initiated various approaches accelerating EHR adoption, use, and interoperability. However, there has been a paucity of studies explaining which factors affect EHR adoption, use, and interoperability in hospitals. The objective of this study is to predict and investigate those factors. This study used a non-experimental, retrospective, cross-sectional study design to measure hospitals' internal features. Specifically, this study conducted a nationwide EHR survey with the IT departments in South Korean hospitals by using online surveys from April 10 to August 3, 2009. It used Generalized Estimating Equations, an extension of the Generalized Linear Model, to interpret EHR system adoption and interoperability, and General Linear Mixed Model for the use of EHR systems. With respect to EHR system adoption, this study found that 1) the likelihood of EHR adoption increases as a hospital's task complexity - measured by the number of medical specialties - IT infrastructure, and organic structural characteristics, and environmental complexity - measured by the number of hospitals within the local area - increases and 2) there were significant interaction effects between task complexity and structural features. Assuming that a hospital adds additional medical specialties, the likelihood of adopting an EHR system of the hospital increases under the decentralized decision-making system, but decreases under the centralized decision-making system. The likelihood decreases under a high level of IT infrastructure, but increases under a lower level of IT infrastructure. For the hospitals' EHR use, there was not any relationship between EHR use and proposed hospital's internal features. Thus, alternative measures of EHR use and internal features were suggested. For EHR interoperability, this study found that 1) the likelihood of having EHR interoperability increases as task complexity and organic managerial features increases, and 2) two interaction effects were reported. Assuming that a hospital adds additional medical specialties, the likelihood of having EHR interoperability of the hospital increases at a high level of IT staff specialization, but decreases at a lower level of IT staff specialization. At a high level of environmental complexity with more than average number of hospitals within the local area, the likelihood of having EHR interoperability of the hospitals located in the area increases as IT staff specialization increases. However, the likelihood decreases as IT staff specialization increases at a lower level of environmental complexity with less than average number of hospitals within the local area. In conclusion, this study verified that hospitals' task, structure, and environmental features were critical factors affecting the EHR system adoption and interoperability. However, these factors did not affect EHR use. Different approaches measuring EHR use and hospitals' various internal features were recommended. This study's results can provide health informaticians, hospital IT managers, and health politicians with new information about EHR system adoption, use, and interoperability for their innovative decision-making.
Korean looks, American eyes: Korean American adoptees, race, culture and nation.
(2009-12) Park Nelson, Kim Ja
This project positions Korean adoptees as transnational citizens at intersections within race relations in the United States, as emblems of international geopolitical relationships between the United States and South Korea, and as empowered actors, organizing to take control of racial and cultural discourses about Korean adoption. I make connections between transnational exchanges, American race relations, and Asian American experiences. I argue that though the contradictory experience of Korean adoptees, at once inside and outside bounded racial and national categories of "Asian," "White," "Korean," and "American," the limits of these categories may be explored and critiqued. In understanding Korean adoptees as transnational subjects, single-axis racial and national identity are challenged, where individuals have access to membership and/or face exclusion in more than one political or cultural nation. In addition, this work demonstrates the effects of American political and cultural imperialism both abroad and domestically, by elucidating how the acts of empire-building nations are mapped onto individuals though the regulation of immigration and family formation. My methods are interdisciplinary, drawing from traditions that include ethnography, primary historical sources, and literature. My dissertation work uses Korean adoptees' own life stories that I have collected and recorded in three locations: 1) Minnesota, home to the largest concentration of Korean adoptees in the U.S.; 2) the Pacific Northwest, home to the many of the "first wave" of the oldest living Korean adoptees now in their 40s and 50s; and, 3) Seoul, Korea, home to hundreds of adult Korean adoptees who have traveled back to South Korea to live and work. In addition, I use Korean adoptee published narratives, archive materials documenting the early history of transnational adoption, and secondary sources in sociology, social work, psychology and cultural studies to uncover the many layers of national, racial and cultural belonging and significance for and of Korean adoptees.
Mystery, Mastery, and Meaning-Making in Postsecondary Education by Adoptees and Former Foster Youth
(2015-12) Drewyor, Jennifer
This study investigates the experiences of being adopted and in foster care for students in postsecondary education. It is a qualitative study conducted through interviews and comparing and contrasting those interviews. Results varied, but certain themes emerged, including a need to cope with lack of information (what will be called mystery), and to integrate self and profession (what will be called mastery), as well as individualized ways of this integration (meaning-making). It became apparent through this study that there are identity and cultural hurdles that students face as they transition to adulthood while in college. The theory of Ambiguous Loss (Boss, 1999), which results from separation from biological family, is combined with the ideas of meaning-making and learning theories and used as a framework to understand the findings of the study. Recommendations are suggested for meeting the unique needs of adopted and foster care youth who are transitioning to adulthood while in college, and are based on the literature and findings from interviews. The topic of separation from biological family and the resulting ambiguous loss is an important topic in postsecondary education because there is little research at this level of the impact of questioning one's biological background, with addressing issues of identity, belonging, and power as students move through postsecondary education.
Nutritional status and neurodevelopment in International Adoptees.
(2010-06) Fuglestad, Anita J.
Adequate intake and assimilation of all nutrients is important for brain health and function; however, several nutrients have more marked effects on brain development. Based on the timing, the extent of deprivation, and the pathophysiology of a given nutrient, specific hypothesis can be made regarding the effects of a given nutrient on specific neural systems. Internationally adopted children present a unique opportunity to study the effects of early nutrient deficiencies on neurodevelopment under relatively controlled conditions, given that the time of adoption into a stable environment clearly demarcates the end of a period of adversity. Although micronutrient deficiencies have an adverse impact on development in other populations, little is known about the nutritional status at arrival or the role of nutritional status in neurodevelopment in international adoptees, a population in which some neurobehavioral problems persist years after adoption. The goals of this set of studies were to investigate (1) the macro- and micronutritional status of internationally adopted children and (2) the association between nutritional status and neurodevelopment during the early adoption period. Studies one and two investigated iron status in children adopted from Eastern Europe. In study one, international adoptees had compromised iron status, with iron deficiency more prevalent in participants with G. lamblia, a parasite which may interfere with iron absorption. There was persistent iron deficiency at follow-up, likely due to the erythropoietic demands of catch-up growth. In study two, iron deficiency was associated with general cognitive and behavioral development during the early adoption period. Specifically, those with iron deficiency were more fearful at arrival and had problems with activity and cooperation at the six-month follow-up. Cognitive performance was likely mediated by behaviors during testing. In study three, a comprehensive nutritional battery was completed for children adopted from Eastern Europe, Ethiopia, and China. 56% of the children had at least one micronutrient deficiency, with iron, zinc and vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency the most common deficiencies. Iron deficiency was associated with lower cognitive scores, slower speed of processing, as well as altered socioemotional behaviors and altered parent behaviors. Zinc deficiency was associated with lower quality exploratory behaviors and altered parent behaviors. These studies show that internationally adopted children are at risk for micronutrient deficiencies and that micronutrient status is associated with neurodevelopment during the early adoption period. Continued research will be important to understand the effects of these nutritional deficiencies on specific neurodevelopmental domains, to determine whether the developmental effects persist long-term, and to inform nutritional and neurodevelopmental principles that can be applied to develop interventions and services for children living in adverse and rehabilitating environments.
Pathways to narrative adoptive identity formation in adolescence and emerging adulthood.
(2008-12) Von Korff, Lynn Ann
This dissertation examined a proposed model of narrative adoptive identity formation with specified associations among age, gender, adoptive parents' facilitation of contact with children's birth relatives, conversation about adoption taking place in the adoptive family, adolescent and emerging adult current emotional expression about adoption, and adolescent and emerging adult narrative adoptive identity. Two waves of data were collected from 184 adoptive families; including adoptive mothers, adoptive fathers, and adoptees (mean age 15.68 years at adolescence and 24.95 years at emerging adulthood). The hypothesized structural model showed a good fit to sample data. Narrative adoptive identity was positively associated with both conversation about adoption and current emotional expression about adoption, sparked by meaningful adoption-related social interactions, specifically adoptive parents' facilitation of contact. Results suggest several elements are integral to adoption-related social interactions associated with narrative adoptive identity formation: (a) adoptive parents actively facilitate interactions, (b) interactions start when children are relatively young, and (c) interactions are emotionally meaningful to young people. Adoption professionals may be helpful in identifying social interactions that meet the diverse needs of youth in adoptive families. Future research should explore the ways adoptive parents integrate different types of adoption-related social interactions into daily family life.
Post-Soviet Americans: Familial and National Belonging for Russian Adoptees in the U.S.
(2023-08) Gulya, Lisa
This dissertation focuses on the following research questions about Russian adoption in the U.S.: First, how do disputes to claim and care for children play out in national politics? Second, how do adoptive parents and adoptees do family across differences of age and national origin, particularly with older child adoptees? Finally, where and to whom do adoptees feel they belong? In Chapter 3, I demonstrate that the figure of the disabled or “special needs” Russian child as belonging in the U.S. appeared in both the U.S. and Russia press responses to the Dima Yakovlev Law banning adoptions to the U.S. Focusing on disabled children’s supposedly happy lives served as a rallying cry to continue international adoptions. This focus on disabled children perpetuated an approach of being child-centered that was objectifying rather than inviting children and adoptees to participate in discussions and policy decisions affecting their lives. In Chapter 4, I highlight parents’ experiences of adopting from Russia, analyzing how they give accounts (1) of the process of drawing boundaries around who now counts as family and (2) what activities the family shares as adoptive parents work to transform adoptees into American children and to do culture-keeping (or not) as a family now putatively Russian-American. I demonstrate the complexity in how adoptive families decide who counts as family in the cases in which adoptees have biological siblings. In Chapter 5, I forefront the stories of Russian adoptees on their own journeys and negotiations within U.S. families and highlight a counterhegemonic discourse of some adoptees’ ambivalence in coming to the U.S. Adoptees may have been most familiar with and preferred communal living with children and caregivers who shared their culture and language. While their life chances may have been limited were they to have stayed in institutional care and then aged out, childhood studies encourages taking seriously children’s own perspectives. I suggest continuing to ask how adoptees can be invited to participate as decision-makers in their own lives, defining family, care, and belonging for themselves and having meaningful opportunities to connect with and critique their countries and cultures of origin and adoption.
The Red Thread Web: a case study of the uses and gratifications parents adopting a child from China discovered in the Rumor Queen blog
(2014-01) Cunningham, Greta Elizabeth
Since 1992 thousands of U.S. families have adopted children from China. Parents wishing to adopt a Chinese child must work with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), which writes and enforces the regulations for domestic and international adoptions. In December 2006 the CCAA suddenly announced it would soon implement dramatic new restrictions on parents seeking to adopt a child from China. This prompted parents enrolled in China's international adoption program to actively seek sources of information about the CCAA's rule changes. Many people turned to the www.chinaadopttalk.com website--more commonly known as the Rumor Queen. This dissertation utilizes case study research strategy and employs several qualitative research methods to investigate the broad topics and themes explored in the Rumor Queen website and to specifically examine the "uses and gratifications" associated with this site. To answer the main research questions posed in this dissertation I analyzed the 3,270 postings users created on the Rumor Queen blog in December 2006. Second, I interviewed informants who used the Rumor Queen blog during their personal adoption journeys. Third, I conducted interviews with adoption agency officials. Fourth, I conducted a search and analyzed the December 2006 mainstream media coverage of the CCAA rule changes. The findings in this dissertation suggest the participants in the "Rumor Queen" site reflect the uses and gratifications theoretical framework in mass communication research. This theory assumes that people use media with purpose, selectively, and actively to satisfy their needs and wants. This case study suggests implications for journalism and mass communication. 1) People will create other sources for communication and information. 2) Individuals actively seek information sources when their information needs are not being met with "traditional" media platforms. 3) The "Rumor Queen" blog helps to fill what many adoptive parents perceive as a communication void due to a lack of reporting in traditional mass media, and the reluctance of adoption officials to share information.
The relationship among culture-specific factors, pubertal timing, and body image and eating disordered symptoms among adopted Korean adolescent girls.
(2009-08) Song, Sueyoung L.
The aim of this dissertation was to examine the role of developmental and culture-specific factors in body image concerns and eating disordered symptoms among internationally, transracially adopted adolescent girls. I specifically sought to replicate past research that suggested early pubertal timing was associated with eating disordered outcomes; to examine the association between racial, ethnic, and adoption factors and eating disordered outcomes; and to test whether these latter associations were moderated by pubertal timing in two samples of adopted female Korean Americans. Early menarche significantly predicted body dissatisfaction, but only in the second study. In the first study there were significant main effects of both birth preoccupation and racial discomfort on two of the body image and ED symptom outcomes - binge eating and weight preoccupation. The first study also revealed a significant main effect between cultural socialization and compensatory behaviors. In the second study, there were significant main effects of birth preoccupation on body satisfaction and ED symptoms. There also were significant main effects of both adoptive identity and ethnic identity on satisfaction with Asian appearances. Across both studies, there was no support for the hypothesis that age of menarche would moderate the association between culture-specific factors and eating disordered outcomes. The study findings provide a cultural framework to help uncover the process and mechanisms by which cultural differences in body image and ED symptoms may exist.
Uncovering the genetic and environmental mediators of parent-offspring transmission of educational attainment: An adoption study
(2019-12) Anderson, Elise
While research has consistently found a strong, parent-to-offspring transmission of educational attainment, understanding the mechanisms underlying this relationship remains tentative. Genetically informative methods using a longitudinal, adoption sample was used to better understand possible mediators for this relationship. Data was drawn the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS) which consists of 409 adoptive and 208 nonadoptive families consisting of two offspring followed from adolescence into young adulthood and their rearing parents. Four domains of mechanisms by which parents might foster the educational achievement of the children they rear were examined: 1) skill enhancement; 2) academic support; 3) material advantage; 4) supportive family environment. Analysis revealed evidence for genetic mediation within the skills domain and shared, environmental mediation for academic expectations and family income.

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