Adoption and child health and psychosocial well-being

Over many decades, adoption research has documented the unique health and psychosocial outcomes of adopted children, and identified several ways in which their developmental needs are unique from non-adopted youth. This chapter outlines the theoretical orientations used to understand adoptee development, and the risk and protective factors associated with the typical developmental outcomes seen. Findings suggest that, while pre-adoption circumstances matter, so do post-adoption circumstances. Although efforts have been made to understand the developmental pathways of adoptees across the lifespan, ongoing work is needed to develop and empirically test intervention and prevention programs that can help narrow the gap in physical and mental health outcomes seen between adoptees and non-adopted children and youth.