Citation

Behle AE, Pinquart M. Adopt. Q. 2016; 19(4): 284-306.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10926755.2016.1201708

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This meta-analysis integrates the results of 85 studies on psychiatric disorders and treatment in adoptees and non-adoptees. The risk of adoptees experiencing psychiatric disorders, contact with mental health services, or treatment in a psychiatric hospital was approximately twice as high as that of non-adoptees. Elevated risks were observed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorders/oppositional defiant disorders, depression, substance use disorders, and psychoses. Larger effect sizes were, in part, found in clinical studies than in community-based studies, in studies with a higher percentage of individuals adopted after the age of three years and international adoptees, and in older studies.

Language: en

Keywords

Adoption; mental illness; meta-analysis; psychopathology