Competence of Children Adopted from the Former Soviet Union

• Author: Teena McGuinness,Leona Pallansch
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00457.x
• Published date: 01 October 2000
• Date: 01 October 2000

2000, Vol. 49, No. 4 457

Competence of Children Adopted from the Former Soviet Union

Teena McGuinness*and Leona Pallansch

The former USSR led the way with the most children adopted from overseas into the United States from 1997-1999. This study (a)

characterizes overall functioning of adoptees and (b) utilizes hierarchical regression analysis to evaluate both risks and protective

influences of adoptive families and their relationships to child competence. Competence levels ranged from challenged to developmen-

tally normal. Family cohesion and expressiveness were significantly associated with higher levels of child competence.

*Address correspondence to: Dr. TeenaMcGuinness, University of South Alabama

College of Nursing, Community Mental Health Nursing, Springhill AreaCampus, Mobile,

AL 36604; (334) 434 3448; e-mail: teena@adoption-research.org

Key Words: adoption, competence, international, protection, risk.

(Family Relations, 2000, 49, 457–464)

Nearly one million U.S. families desire to grow through

adoption but only an estimated 25,000 healthy infants

are available annually in the U.S. (van Balen, Verdur-

men, & Ketting, 1997). Since the demise of the Soviet Union,

many families seeking to adopt have turned to that region in

search of children. There are approximately 600,000 infants, tod-

dlers, and young children in orphanages (Powell, 1998) and

many are available for adoption. However, as demonstrated by

reports in the media (Holden, 1996; Nakashima, 1996; Saul,

1997), many children have mental and physical health difficul-

ties. A strikingly different picture has emerged as contrasted to

other international adoptees such as those from Korea (Albers,

Johnson, Hostetter, Iverson, & Miller, 1997). These difficulties

include behavioral and emotional challenges and developmental

delays. The difficulties may be, in part, related to the institutional

settings experienced by these children during sensitive devel-

opmental periods (Spake, 1998). Other risk factors influencing

the health of these institutionalized children include difficult eco-

nomic conditions in the former Soviet bloc countries, poor san-

itation, limited availability and poor quality of health care, and

the different motivations (humanitarian vs. profit-oriented) of the

agencies facilitating these adoptions (Albers et al., 1997).

The effects of institutionalization on subsequent emotional

and behavioral development have important ramifications for un-

derstanding the adaptive behavior of children adopted from the

former Soviet Union. From 1997 through 1999, the countries of

the former Soviet Union were the principal sources of interna-

tional adoptees for American families while China followed as

a close second. In 1999, approximately 4,400 children entered

U.S. adoptive families (U.S. Department of State, 2000). Most

of these children spent significant portions of their early months

or years in orphanages and were exposed to the biologic and

social risks associated with institutionalization (Frank, Klass,

Earls, & Eisenberg, 1996). They were often voluntarily relin-

quished at birth to institutions but some were forcibly removed

due to parental abuse and neglect and resided in orphanages until

adoption.

Nearly a century of research in child development points to

five areas of potential biologic and social risks for infants and

young children in orphanage care (Bowlby, 1951; Chapin, 1915;

Goldfarb, 1945; Rutter, 1995). These biologic and social risks

include (1) increased morbidity from infectious disease, (2) de-

lays in nutrition and growth, (3) impairments in cognitive de-

velopment, (4) difficulties in socioaffective development, and (5)

physical and sexual abuse. Infants and young children are

uniquely vulnerable to the medical and psychosocial hazards of

institutional care in any country (Frank et al., 1996). Unfortu-

nately, the negative effects of institutionalization cannot be re-

duced to a tolerable level even in clean facilities with adequate

personnel. In the short term, orphanage placement puts young

children at increased risk of serious infectious illness and delayed

language development (Ames et al., 1997; Holden, 1996; Mor-

ison, Ames, & Chisholm, 1995). In the long term, institutional-

ization increases the likelihood that children will grow into psy-

chiatrically impaired and economically unproductive adults

(Frank et al., 1996; Rutter, Quinton, & Hill, 1990; Yarrow,

Goodwin, Manheimer, & Milowe, 1973).

Other studies have noted that hazards outside of institution-

alization must also be considered. In one study of internationally

adopted children (Johnson et al., 1996a), 86% of which were

children from the former Soviet Union (76% were of the Russian

nationality), the children were found to be at risk due to low

birthweight (50%) and exposure to alcohol in utero (17%). Med-

ical conditions were also common among this group of inter-

nationally adopted children. Greater than 20% of the children

had at least one of the following conditions: a condition such as

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), cardiomyopathy, hepatitis C, sei-

zures, or reactive attachment disorder. It was also noted that the

prenatal alcohol exposure occurred on a continuum and that

some developmental delays observed in their sample could be

representative of these fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Johnson and

his colleagues concluded that these orphans were a medically

and developmentally high-risk population (Johnson, 1999). An-

other study of 56 Russian children compared pre-adoptive med-

ical reports with the actual health of the child upon arrival in

the U.S. The records revealed multiple unfamiliar neurologic di-

agnoses such as oligophrenia, perinatal encephalopathy, and py-

ramidal insufficiency (Johnson et al., 1996b). Although the study

concluded that these esoteric diagnoses were not confirmed, sub-

stantial growth and developmental delays were present. Serious

medical problems were found or corroborated in 11 (20%) of

the 56 children.

Dire economic and social circumstances existing in the for-

mer Soviet Union have contributed to the adverse circumstances

surrounding the children awaiting adoption. Russia and the other

former Soviet republics are in the midst of difficult social and

economic transformations. The inflation rate has risen to over

300% since 1990; by comparison, the U.S. rate was 2.5% during

the same period (Sandlin, 1997). In fact, the Russian economy

has been called a virtual economy, which reflects the precarious

nature of the Russian financial structure (Schmemann, 1998).

Despite its educated population and abundant natural resources,

the average life span of Russian citizens has fallen to 64.2 years

of age for both men and women since 1990, as compared to 71.7

for U.S. citizens (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 1996). Russian in-