SYNOPSIS

Objective. Adoptive parents’ acknowledgment of differences is defined as the propensity to think that adoptive and nonadoptive families are different in important ways. Few studies have examined the implications of such cognitions for the parent–child bond. Design. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the relation between adoptive parents’ acknowledgment of differences and adolescents’ later attachment to their parents in a sample of within-race domestic infant adoptions. Data from 189 adoptive families were drawn from two waves (middle childhood, adolescence) of the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project, a longitudinal study of openness in adoption. Results. Levels of acknowledgment of differences displayed by the adoptive mother and adoptive father during middle childhood positively predicted adopted adolescents’ feelings of attachment toward the respective parent 8 years later. This relation depended on adopted adolescents’ attitude toward adoption-related communication during middle childhood as well as the adoptive family’s level of openness during middle childhood. Conclusions. Acknowledgment of differences in adoptive families has positive implications for the parent–child bond.

概要

客观。收养父母对差异的承认被定义为认为收养和非收养家庭在重要方面不同的倾向。很少有研究检验这种认知对亲子关系的影响。设计。在种族内家庭婴儿收养的样本中，利用结构方程模型来检查养父母对差异的承认与青少年后来对父母的依恋之间的关系。来自 189 个收养家庭的数据来自明尼苏达州/德克萨斯州收养研究项目的两波（儿童中期、青春期），这是一项对收养开放性的纵向研究。结果. 养母和养父在童年中期表现出的差异承认水平正向预测 8 年后被收养的青少年对各自父母的依恋感。这种关系取决于被收养的青少年在童年中期对收养相关交流的态度以及收养家庭在童年中期的开放程度。结论。承认收养家庭的差异对亲子关系有积极的影响。