title: Contact in adoption and adoptive identity formation: the mediating role of family conversation.
abstract: The present study examined adoption-related family conversation as a mediator of the association between adoptive parents' facilitation of contact with birth relatives and adolescent adoptive identity formation. The sample consisted of 184 adoptive families. Data were collected in two waves from adoptive mothers and fathers, and adoptees (M = 15.68 years at adolescence; M = 24.95 years at emerging adulthood) using semistructured interviews and questionnaires. Structural equation models showed a good fit to sample data, and analyses supported the hypothesized mediation model. Contact with birth relatives is associated with more frequent adoption-related family conversation, which in turn is associated with the development of adoptive identity. These results highlight the importance of supporting activities such as contact that lead to adoption-related family conversation.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science, 290 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. vonko002@umn.edu
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Von Korff
authors.forename: Harold D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Grotevant
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult