Psychological adjustment of relinquishing mothers before and after reunion with their children.
A main objective of this study was to compare the emotional well-being of mothers who had already experienced a reunion with children relinquished two to four decades ago, with that of mothers who were still awaiting the possibility of such re-contact. A nationwide postal survey was carried out in New Zealand of the relinquishment experiences and subsequent adjustment of 238 women who had been able to re-contact their children and of 206 women who had not as yet made contact. The two subgroups did not differ on two standardised measures of psychological well-being (GHQ-28 and global self esteem). However, the post-reunion women reported significantly greater improvements in their feelings connected with "adoption events", and also reported higher levels of perceived social support than did the pre-reunion women. Women who still lacked any information about their relinquished child showed significantly more negative affect and poorer psychological well-being than those who had at least obtained some non-identifying information.
Field
J
J
Department of Psychology, University of Auckland.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009520:New Zealand; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012944:Social Support