Dyadic Sex Differences in Adoptive and Nonadoptive Family Relationships during Emerging Adulthood Amy WalknerSpaan MSW LISW Martha Rueter PhD What do we know about adoptive families in emerging adulthood ID: 766821
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Dyadic Sex Differences in Adoptive and Nonadoptive Family Relationships during Emerging Adulthood Amy Walkner-Spaan, M.S.W., L.I.S.W. Martha Rueter, Ph.D.
What do we know about adoptive families in emerging adulthood? Retrospectively, adoptees, their siblings, and their parents reported a general level of family closeness (Loehlin, Horn, & Ernst, 2010) Adoptive families reported less warm, supportive communication and increased conflict (Rueter, Keyes, Iacono, & McGue, 2009) Adopted adolescents were observed to have greater conflictual behavior towards their parents (Rueter et al., 2009)
PurposeThis descriptive research explored relationship differences between adoptive and nonadoptive parent-emerging adult dyads by parent and emerging adult biological sex.
Sample Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS; McGue, et al., 2007; Rueter et al., 2009) Families had at least two children At least one adopted child in the adoptive families For this study: Eligible emerging adults were 18.50 – 22.49 years old Eligible mothers and fathers had one child 18.50 – 22.49 years old
Sample: Self-Report Emerging Adults M age = 19.83 Mothers M age = 50.43 Fathers M age = 52.69 97% White
Sample: Observation Emerging Adults M age = 19.82 Parent M age = 50.14 98% White
Self-Report Measures Parental Environment Questionnaire (PEQ; Elkins, McGue, & Iacono, 1997) Conflict (12 items) “ My child and I often get into arguments .” “ My parent and I often get into arguments.” Closeness (12 items) “ My child doesn’t seem to feel very close to me.”“I don’t feel very close to my parent.” Four dyadic relationship indicators: E.A. - Mother E.A. - Father Mother - E.A. Father - E.A.
Independent Observations SIBS Rating Scores (Rueter et al., 2009) Conflict Hostility scale Closeness Warmth/Support Listener Responsiveness Communication Prosocial Two dyadic relationship indicators E.A. - Parent Parent – E.A.
Results: Self-Report * = p < .05 ** = p < .001
Results: Observation * = p < .001
Discussion & Future DirectionsExtends research on adoptive family relationships into emerging adulthood Individuation might affect adopted emerging adults differently Investigate the influence of adoption-specific variables on parent-emerging adult relationships
ReferencesElkins, I. J., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (1997). Genetic and environmental influences on parent-son relationships: Evidence for increasing genetic influence during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 33 (2) , 351-363. Loehlin, J. C., Horn, J. M., & Ernst, J. L. (2010). Parent-child closeness studied in adoptive families. Personality and Individual Differences, 48 (2) , 149-154. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2009.09.012 McGue, M., Keyes, M., Sharma, A., Elkins, I., Legrand, L., Johnson, W., & Iacono, W. (2007). The environments of adopted and non-adopted youth: Evidence on range restriction from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Behavioral Genetics, 37 (3) , 449-462. doi: 10.1007/s10519-007-9142-7 Rueter, M. A., Keyes, M. A., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2009). Family interactions in adoptive compared to nonadoptive families. Journal of Family Psychology, 23 (1) , 58-66. doi: 10.1037/a0014091