A qualitative exploration of how adoptive parents experience the direct and indirect trauma of their child’s early maltreatment

Bibliographic Data

ID11941548
AuthorsMorvwen Duncan (0000-0002-5220-8546, University College London, UK, corresponding author), R M Pasco Fearon (0000-0003-1847-8443, University College London, UK), Matt Woolgar (0000-0002-3618-0395, King's College London)
Year2024
Volume48
Issue2
Pages167-183
Publication date2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAdoption & Fostering (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-5759 • E-ISSN: 1740-469X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/03085759241251854
OpenAlexW4404651848
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited30

Adoptive parents face the emotional impact of parenting a child with adverse and often traumatic early experiences. The current qualitative study explores the experiences of adoptive parents who display heightened trauma symptoms relating to their child’s previous experiences and challenging current behaviours. In total, 10 adoptive parents reporting high levels of trauma symptoms on a quantitative screening measure, the revised Impact of Events Scale (IES-R), were interviewed by telephone to explore their experiences of being an adoptive parent. From the thematic analysis, four main themes were generated: direct trauma , the emotional impact of parenting , support network and sense of self as a parent . The findings suggested that how the parents experience their child’s early trauma, the current parenting demands, including child-to-parent violence, and the presence of lack of support are important factors in the adoptive parents’ trauma response, which all draw together to influence the parents’ sense of self. The clinical implications of the findings about the trauma experience of adoptive parents, and importantly their relevance for addressing child-to-parent violence, are discussed along with factors, such as parents’ support networks, that determine their evaluations of their competence and sense of self as a parent. The limitations of this study and recommendations for further research are also discussed

Developmental psychology · Qualitative research · Sociology · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Child Welfare and Adoption · Psychology

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