Stress in adoptive parents of adolescents

The stress experienced by the adoptive parents of adolescents adopted as young children was explored in a community sample from Spain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of the child-, parent- and family-related characteristics as predictors of parenting stress in adoptive families. A group of 156 families of adolescents adopted domestically as young children participated in this study. The average age at the time of adoption was 3.15 years, 17.9% were sibling adoptions, and 10% had special needs. High correlations were found between mothers and fathers in the Stress Index for Parents of Adolescents (Sheras, Abidin, & Konold, 1998). Compared with other non-adoptive samples, the stress of the mothers was lower in the total scores, but higher in the adolescent domain. Variables pertaining to the child, to the parent and to the support and resources used regarding adoption made a significant contribution to the regression model (49.2% of the explained variance).

► Adolescent-, parent- and family- characteristics predict stress in adoptive parents.
► Parental stress was higher in sibling adoptions.
► Higher parental stress when mothers scored low in affect-communication and induction.
► Insisting on the differences with non-adoptive families was related to parental stress.
► Parental stress is associated with more professional help.