Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to submit your manuscript to SPPS

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
The Counseling Psychologist
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by O'Brien, K. M.
Right arrow Articles by Zamostny, K. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Understanding Adoptive Families

An Integrative Review of Empirical Research and Future Directions for Counseling Psychology

Karen M. O'Brien

University of Maryland, kobrien{at}psyc.umd.edu

Kathy P. Zamostny

University of Maryland

Contrary to societal stereotypes about adoption, this integrative review of published empirical research on adoptive families noted several positive and few negative out-comes with regard to satisfaction with the adoption, familial functioning, and parent-child communication. The critical analysis of 38 studies on adoptive families revealed a prevalence of descriptive passive research designs with concomitant concerns regarding sampling and generalizability. However, despite their limitations, the studies form the foundation for future research that, if replicated, provide support for viewing most adoptive families as resilient. To contribute to the empirical literature on adoption, counseling psychologists should base research in theory, study societal and cultural factors affecting adoptive families, improve methodology, and focus on resiliency and successful out-comes for adoptive families.

The Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 31, No. 6, 679-710 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0011000003258086
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
A. L. Baden and M. O'Leary Wiley
Counseling Adopted Persons in Adulthood: Integrating Practice and Research
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2007; 35(6): 868 - 901.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
K. P. Zamostny, M. O. Wiley, K. M. O'Brien, R. M. Lee, and A. L. Baden
Breaking the Silence: Advancing Knowledge about Adoption for Counseling Psychologists
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2003; 31(6): 647 - 650.
[PDF]

Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
K. P. Zamostny, K. M. O'Brien, A. L. Baden, and M. O. Wiley
The Practice of Adoption: History, Trends, and Social Context
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2003; 31(6): 651 - 678.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
M. L. Friedlander
Adoption: Misunderstood, Mythologized, Marginalized
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2003; 31(6): 745 - 752.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The Counseling PsychologistHome page
H. D. Grotevant
Counseling Psychology Meets the Complex World of Adoption
The Counseling Psychologist, November 1, 2003; 31(6): 753 - 762.
[PDF]