Prospective adoptive parents need to develop adequate knowledge of adoptive parenthood and adoptable children before child placement. Pre-adoption preparation has been considered a predictor of positive outcomes both for parents and children, while unrealistic expectations towards adoptive parenthood are related to difficulties in facing the adoptive parenting process, especially those that may arise from the child’s emotional, psychological and behavioural problems. Despite the importance of prospective adoptive parents’ expectations for the positive outcomes of adoption, few studies have examined the expectations of couples awaiting adoption. This article investigates the expectations concerning adoptive parenting in a group of 60 Italian prospective adoptive parents who completed an open-ended questionnaire aimed at understanding their expectations regarding adoptable children and their wishes and fears about adoptive parenting. The thematic analysis highlighted prospective adoptive parents’ expectations of more desirable qualities of children and underestimation of the difficulties they may encounter during the adoptees’ adjustment process. The results offer insights to adoption professionals with a view to enhancing the quality of prospective adoptive parents’ preparation before child placement.

中文翻译：

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期待已经出生的孩子：未来收养父母对跨国收养的期望

未来的养父母需要在孩子安置之前对养父母和可收养的孩子有足够的了解。收养前的准备被认为是父母和孩子积极结果的预测因素，而对收养父母的不切实际的期望则与面对收养养育过程中的困难有关，特别是那些可能因孩子的情感、心理和行为问题而产生的困难。尽管未来收养父母对收养积极结果的期望很重要，但很少有研究考察等待收养的夫妇的期望。本文调查了 60 名意大利准收养父母对收养父母的期望，他们完成了一份开放式问卷，旨在了解他们对收养儿童的期望以及他们对收养父母的愿望和恐惧。专题分析强调了未来收养父母对孩子更理想品质的期望，以及对被收养者在适应过程中可能遇到的困难的低估。研究结果为收养专业人士提供了见解，以提高未来收养父母在儿童安置前的准备质量。