Processo de adaptação em famílias adotivas : cenários e coreografias de forças e fragilidades

Tese de doutoramento, Psicologia Clínica (Psicologia da Família e Intervenção Familiar), Universidade de Lisboa e Universidade de Coimbra, 2018Children’s adaptation to adoption has undergone extensive research. However, only recently has the contribution of parenting and family functioning-related processes to child adaptation been studied. It is the aim of the present dissertation to contribute to a further understanding of the child’s adaptation to adoption process, by examining the intra-familiar processes and factors that have a bearing on this adaptation. The research developed is framed by a post-positivist paradigm. Five empirical studies with a cross-sectional design were conducted. A sample of adoptive parents (with and without biological children) was used, along with a comparison group of biological parents (in three of the studies). Based on the literature review, potentially relevant variables were considered for studying the adaptation processes of adopted children (parenting stress, child attachment, emotional well-being and psychological adjustment), as well as individual (parental gender, child gender, child's age at adoption), parental (evaluation of expectations, parenting styles, parental satisfaction) and family (family relational environment, number of children, adopted children vs. adopted and biological children) variables to enable a more in-depth understanding of the adaptation process. Participants were selected through a convenience sampling strategy and the data collection was performed using a research protocol with self-report instruments. In the first study, a shorter version of the PANAS-C-P, an instrument assessing children's positive and negative affect (parent perspective), was developed and validated using a sample of both adoptive and biological parents. The results indicated a good fit and structure invariance in both groups, confirming the suitability of the instrument for use with adoptive and biological parents. In the second study, the associations of three groups of parents (with adopted, adopted and biological, and biological children) were analysed with the following variables: individual (age at adoption, child’s psychological adjustment), parental (parenting stress) and family (family relational environment, number of children). The results revealed significant differences among the two groups of adoptive parents vs. the biological parents group, namely in their perception of children's behavioural problems and in parenting stress (dimensions related to the parent-child interaction and child characteristics), pointing to both groups of adoptive parents having more difficulties than the biological group. However, with regard to the family relational environment, no significant differences were found, and even a tendency toward less conflict was observed in adoptive families. In the third study, the comparative strategy (adoptive vs. biological parents) was maintained, with a focus on the mediating role of child attachment in the relationship between parenting (parental styles and parenting stress) and the child's emotional well-being (positive affect and negative affect). The results showed the significance of the mediation process analysed, as well as of the differences between the two groups in relation to this process. In the fourth study, associations among the evaluation of parental expectations (confrontation between expectations and experience), parenting stress, parental satisfaction and perception of the child’s behavioural problems were analysed, using a sample with only adoptive parents. Parenting stress and parental satisfaction were found to be significant sequential mediators of the relationship between the evaluation of parental expectations and the child's behavioural problems. The association between parenting stress and perception of the child’s behavioural problems in the adoptive parental dyad was the focus of the last study, in which the impact of the parenting stress of each parent on his/her own and on his/her partner’s perception of the child’s problems was explored. The results revealed that the parenting stress of mothers, but not of fathers, was significantly associated with their own and with fathers’ perceptions of children’s behavioural problems. The results of the developed studies point to influential scenarios (factors) and choreographies (relationship among factors) of strengths (resources and competences; positive perception) and fragilities (parental and child difficulties; negative perception) on the adaptation process of adoptive families. Furthermore, they underline the importance of continued research on family processes and post-adoption experiences for the adaptation of the child. Not only preventive and/or therapeutic support throughout the adoption process (including the post-adoption period) are essential, but also the flexibility of intervention practices to accommodate the plurality of adoptive families.Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN, 2007-2013