Influence of Communicative Openness on the Psychological Adjustment ofInternationally Adopted Adolescents

Abstract

This study evaluated the predictive relationship between the communicative openness and psychological adjustment ofadopted adolescents, controlling for preplacement risk factors. One hundred Spanish international adoptees aged 12–18took part in the study. Data were gathered with a structured interview, the Youth Self Report and the Adoption Com-munication Scale. A history of maltreatment prior to the adoption was associated with more closed communicationbetween parents and children. Prenatal drug exposure shows a relationship with the presence of externalizing behav-iors and attention problems in adolescents. Finally, a lower degree of communicative openness regarding the child’sorigins was significantly associated with the presence of all the adolescent behavioral problems studied.