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| Adopted Children Who Were Prenatally Drug Exposed
| Adopted Children Who Were Not Prenatally Drug Exposed
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| Background Factors |
More likely to be Latino or African American |
More likely to be Caucasian |
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More likely to be adopted by parents who had less than a college education |
More likely to be adopted by parents with college or graduate degrees |
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70% adopted through public agencies [and, therefore, had been in foster care] |
42% adopted through public agencies [and therefore had been in foster care] |
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50% in adoptions that were open at time of placement |
60% in adoptions that were open at time of placement |
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At 4 years post-adoption, 42% were receiving adoption subsidies; mean monthly amount: $361 |
At 4 years post-adoption, 42% were receiving adoption subsidies; mean monthly amount: $523 |
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23% of parents reported that child had physical/mental disability; 27% reported that child had a developmental disability |
9% of parents reported that child had physical/mental disability; 11% reported that child had a developmental disability |
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98% of children described by parents as being in good to excellent health |
97% of children described by parents as being in good to excellent health |
| Outcomes |
Both groups about as likely to have been classified for ADHD. Drug-exposed children more likely than non-drug exposed to score in the 75th percentile on hyperactivity [using the IOWA Conner scale] |
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54% of parents said that ADHD behaviors had affected their children's school performance |
43% of parents said that ADHD behaviors had affected their children's school performance |
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31% of children took medication for ADHD |
21% of children took medication for ADHD |
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No significant differences in parents' reports of the difficulty they had experienced in raising their children or in how much difficulty children were having in getting along with other children in the family |
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63% of children described by their parents as functioning well or with few problems |
73% of children described by their parents as functioning well or with few problems |
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Four years after adoption, 86% reported being "very satisfied" with the adoption; eight years after adoption, 60% reported being "very satisfied" |
Four years after adoption, 90% reported being "very satisfied" with the adoption; eight years after adoption, 71% reported being "very satisfied" |
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90% of all respondents, despite decrease in satisfaction between years 4 and 8, reported that if they had it to do all over again, they would adopt the child again |
The only child characteristic found to be significant for impact on child functioning at eight years post-adoption was history of pre-adoption placements. Being a child with NO history of multiple homes increased the odds of functioning well by 1.54 times. Drug exposure status was NOT found to affect the likelihood that a child would function either poorly or well.
