A significant new study released by American Psychological Association, focused on adoption and self-esteem, has found that there are no differences in self-esteem between adopted and non-adopted children and no differences in self-esteem between transracial and same-race adopted children.
Past research suggested that adopted children have lower self-esteem than non-adoptive children. Past research has also suggested that the self-esteem of children of color suffers when raised in a family of a different race. Self-esteem, or self-worth as it is sometimes known, is at the core of an individual’s identity and plays a vital role during a child’s formative years.
The study, published in the November 2007 journal, Psychological Bulletin, a publication of the American Psychological Association, analyzed data from 88 studies that had been conducted over a number of years.
Researchers and psychologists have long held the belief that adopted children are at-risk for low self-esteem and that many of them “have to cope with their adoptive status, which often includes difficulties associated with the lack of resemblance to their adoptive parents. Additionally, transracial and international adoptees may feel less integrated into their family, resulting in low self-esteem.” The results of this study clearly refute these long-held beliefs.
“We found that African-American children adopted in Caucasian families showed the same self-esteem as non-adoptive children, like Caucasian adoptees in Caucasian families or African-American adoptees in African-American families.”
Femmie Juffer in a November 23, 2007 Morning Edition Interview
According to the study, adoptees’ resilience to overcome early adversity was supported by the large emotional investment made by adoptive families. Further, the study’s findings supported adoption as an effective intervention that can lead to normal self-esteem.
For more on this study, NPR’s Morning Edition covered this story in a compelling report on November 23, 2007. To hear a podcast of that report go to
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16572430&ft=1&f=3. To purchase a complete copy of the study, go to http://www.apa.org/journals/bul/.
The study “Adoptees Do Not Lack Self-Esteem: A Meta-Analysis of Studies on Self-Esteem of Transracial, International, and Domestic Adoptees” was published in Psychological Bulletin by the American Psychological Association, November 2007, Vol. 133, No. 6, 1067–1083.
Harley Christensen is the National Marketing & Development Director at the Independent Adoption Center (IAC). IAC is a licensed and counseling-based national adoption agency that informs, supports, and guides birth and adoptive parents through the process of creating healthy new families. Founded in 1982, IAC is one of the pioneers of open adoption and has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Raleigh, and Indianapolis.
For more information, please call 1-800-877-6736 or go to www.adoptionhelp.org .