Attachment development in children adopted from China:The role of pre-adoption care and sensitive adoptive parenting

Chloë Finet, Theodore E.A. Waters, Harriet J. Vermeer, Femmie Juffer, Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Guy Bosmans

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The current study examined the attachment development of 92 internationally adopted Chinese girls, focusing on the influence of type of pre-adoption care (institutional versus foster care) and sensitive adoptive parenting. Although the children were more often insecurely attached than non-adopted children 2 and 6 months after adoption (Times 1 and 2, N = 92), they had similar levels of secure base script knowledge (SBS knowledge) as a non-adopted comparison group at age 10 (Time 3, N = 87). Furthermore, concurrently observed sensitive parenting was positively associated with SBS knowledge. Finally, a significant interaction between type of pre-adoption care and early-childhood sensitive parenting indicated that the post-institutionalized children showed a stronger increase in security than the post-foster children when parents were more sensitive.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)587-607
Number of pages21
JournalAttachment and Human Development
Volume23
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • International adoption
  • attachment
  • pre-adoption care
  • secure base script
  • sensitive parenting

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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