Event Title

Post Adoption Adjustment of Birth Fathers: The Effects of Relationships with Birth Mothers and Family

Location

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Start Date

7-4-2010 4:00 PM

End Date

7-4-2010 5:30 PM

Description

Adoption has become the focus of much research over the past decade. This research has focused primarily on outcomes for adopted children, with efforts aimed at understanding their adjustment post adoption. Little empirical attention has been given to birth parents, especially birth fathers. Research with birth mothers has shown risk in regard to their emotional adjustment post adoption and the role birth fathers and their families play when making an adoption plan. This study examined the adjustment of birth fathers whose infants were placed for adoption. Adjustment, the dependent variable, is defined as the mental health status and life impact of making an adoption plan. Adjustment was assessed by measuring symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a measure of the life impact of making an adoption plan. Emphasis was placed on the birth fathers’ level of connectedness with the birth mother and disclosure of the pregnancy to his parents, the independent variables. Level of connectedness was defined as the nature, context, and strength of the relationship between birth parents. Given previous research demonstrating the importance of the birth parent relationship and familial influences in adoption planning, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between adjustment and level of connectedness and that this relationship would be moderated by family disclosure with the birth father’s parents. The sample was drawn from the Early Growth and Development Study, a longitudinal study of birth and adoptive families. Birth father data (N=149) were used and collected approximately four to six months after the child’s birth. Ordinary least squares regression models were fitted to sample data in order to estimate the inferential statistics (F, t, r) used to test study hypotheses. Results show moderate correlations between level of connectedness and each adjustment indicator. Birth fathers’ level of connectedness to birth mothers demonstrated statistically significant interaction with birth fathers’ disclosure to his family, suggesting a combined effect associated with a decrease in anxiety. In addition to revealing that more than half of the sample reported being in a committed relationship with the birth mother, birth fathers adjusted more positively when their connection to their partners and families was strong. Practice implications include greater efforts to engage fathers in planning for their child’s future to prevent difficult emotional adjustment for birth parents and acknowledgement of the important role social relationships play in that adjustment.

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Apr 7th, 4:00 PM Apr 7th, 5:30 PM

Post Adoption Adjustment of Birth Fathers: The Effects of Relationships with Birth Mothers and Family

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Adoption has become the focus of much research over the past decade. This research has focused primarily on outcomes for adopted children, with efforts aimed at understanding their adjustment post adoption. Little empirical attention has been given to birth parents, especially birth fathers. Research with birth mothers has shown risk in regard to their emotional adjustment post adoption and the role birth fathers and their families play when making an adoption plan. This study examined the adjustment of birth fathers whose infants were placed for adoption. Adjustment, the dependent variable, is defined as the mental health status and life impact of making an adoption plan. Adjustment was assessed by measuring symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a measure of the life impact of making an adoption plan. Emphasis was placed on the birth fathers’ level of connectedness with the birth mother and disclosure of the pregnancy to his parents, the independent variables. Level of connectedness was defined as the nature, context, and strength of the relationship between birth parents. Given previous research demonstrating the importance of the birth parent relationship and familial influences in adoption planning, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between adjustment and level of connectedness and that this relationship would be moderated by family disclosure with the birth father’s parents. The sample was drawn from the Early Growth and Development Study, a longitudinal study of birth and adoptive families. Birth father data (N=149) were used and collected approximately four to six months after the child’s birth. Ordinary least squares regression models were fitted to sample data in order to estimate the inferential statistics (F, t, r) used to test study hypotheses. Results show moderate correlations between level of connectedness and each adjustment indicator. Birth fathers’ level of connectedness to birth mothers demonstrated statistically significant interaction with birth fathers’ disclosure to his family, suggesting a combined effect associated with a decrease in anxiety. In addition to revealing that more than half of the sample reported being in a committed relationship with the birth mother, birth fathers adjusted more positively when their connection to their partners and families was strong. Practice implications include greater efforts to engage fathers in planning for their child’s future to prevent difficult emotional adjustment for birth parents and acknowledgement of the important role social relationships play in that adjustment.