title: Relation problems in internationally adopted juvenile delinquents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Internationally adopted delinquents are overrepresented in juvenile Swedish institutions. With the purpose of investigating possible reasons for this overrepresentation, this study compared adopted delinquent adolescents and internationally adopted controls in the structure and functioning of their current relations, especially with their parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Internationally adopted adolescents admitted to institutional care (N=20) and non-delinquent internationally adopted controls (N=21) were compared through: a questionnaire; "family relations", a subscale in I think I am; "Family climate" (from Karolinska Scale of Personality); Individual Schedule of Social Interaction; and an Attachment Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bad relations with adoptive parents were more prevalent in internationally adopted delinquents compared to internationally adopted controls. Furthermore, the adopted delinquents and their parents blamed each other for the problems and the adopted delinquents reported physical and emotional abuse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Internationally adopted delinquents reported more problems in their relationships to their parents than adopted controls did.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. anna.elmund@kbh.uu.se
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elmund
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Melin
authors.forename: Anne-Liis
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: von Knorring
authors.forename: Lemm
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Proos
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tuvemo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D010287:Parent-Child Relations