Many thanks once again for all your help in completing my study. As you can see from the above, I was successful at my defense and now I will share some of the findings with you in this letter.

Although numerous media reports had enumerated the challenges of children adopted from the former USSR, no study had examined specific risk factors (institutional living and low birthweight) and their impact on competence (children’s patterns of effective behavior). This study focused on protective factors (defined as ameliorative factors that mitigate the effects of risk with specific attention to family environment) and their relationship to competence at home and in school. I felt that adoptive parents were above average in many respects and seemed willing to meet the challenges: not only are they financially able, they are strongly motivated to succeed at parenting.

1. characterize the current social, academic, and conduct competencies of six- to nine- year old children adopted from orphanages in the former Soviet Union who have resided in the U.S. for at least two years and
2. Evaluate a model of risk as well as the potential for the protective influence of adoptive families and its relationship to competence. The measures included:
   a) Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL),
   b) Teacher Report Form (TRF),
   c) Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS),
   d) Cohesion and Expressiveness subscales of the Family Environment Scale (FES), and
   e) demographics.

One hundred and five children were recruited from five adoption agencies, FRUA-Wisconsin chapter, and the aparentruss listserve .

At the time of the study, the 105 children averaged 7.7 years of age and had spent an average of 34.39 months in the institution. With respect to age at time of entry into the institution, there seemed to be two distinct groups. Many children (48) had entered the orphanage within the first month of birth; 57 entered later than age one month (average age for this group was 23.6 months). Of the latter group, 70.9% had experienced abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Average birthweight was 2637 grams (5.8 pounds). Birthmother health information was available on 47 and the most frequently reported finding was a history of alcohol abuse in 43 birthmothers.

Social Competence: The average standard score (based on national norms) on the VABS socialization score is 100. The mean of this sample was 87.81, +/- 15.36 (range of scores was 51-131). However, adaptive levels, as defined by the authors of the VABS define an “adequate” range including scores in the range of 85-115. As mentioned, there was a wide variation in scores (from 51-131). Approximately 65% scored above 85; 25% of the sample scored above 100 on this measure of social competence. The 35% that scored below 85 represent a considerably larger proportion of children than the 16% who scored below 85 in the standardization sample of the VABS.

School Competence: Sixty-six percent of the children scored in the non-clinical range on school competence, meaning that 34% are experiencing a continuum of challenges, according to the School Score of the CBCL. The non-clinical range indicates no need for additional services to help the child succeed at age-normative school activities. The mean score from the 101 parents in the sample on that scale was 37.48 +/- 10.48 (range 20-55). The Teacher Report Form gives an Adaptive Functioning Total Score that is representative of academic competence. The mean score from the 89 teachers in the sample on that scale was 44.56 +/- 6.53 (range 35-62). The majority (85.4%) attended regular classrooms. Although the children were a minimum age of six, two children attended developmental kindergarten. One child attended a class specifically for emotionally and behaviorally disordered. Three attended Montessori schools. Five were enrolled in full-time special education classes. A majority (57.3%) attended a special class in addition to their usual classroom. Usually, this special class was speech/language therapy. No further specific information was requested about the speech/language services. Almost 43% did not attend a special class of any type.

Conduct Competence: Eighty five percent scored in the non-clinical range on conduct competence scores (CBCL Externalizing Score). The term “externalizing” is often associated with problem behavior (aggressiveness, for example). This is a very similar rate to the national norms. Forty eight (45.7 % of the sample) scored 50, an average score. Eighty four percent scored under 67 for the Externalizing score with similar percentages for the subscales. Of the children in this study, 9.5% of them scored within the clinical range on the Externalizing score. Of the normal population, approximately 10 percent would fall into this clinical range making the comparison very similar.

Family Environment: Family environments were generally positive with higher than average levels of cohesion and expressiveness. There were lower than average levels of conflict and achievement orientation. Typically, this pattern is characterized as supportive. Specific attention was paid to two specific subscales of the Family Environment Scale: Expressiveness and Cohesion. Expressiveness is the extent to which family members are encouraged to communicate their feelings directly. Cohesion is the degree of help, commitment, and support family members provide for one another. The Expressiveness and Cohesion subscales were associated with higher scores on the social competence score of the CBCL and lower scores on externalizing behavior.

A structural equation analysis was employed to look at the “big picture”: the relationship between specific risk factors (low birthweight, age the child entered the institution, and the length of time the child spent in an institution) with protective factors (represented by the family environment subscales of Cohesion and Expressiveness) and scores on school, conduct, and social competence. Essentially, the statistics demonstrated that the relationship between risk and competence was mediated by family environment. In other words, family environment acted as a “go-between” between risk and competence. This path was statistically significant (it is unlikely that this finding happened by chance).

This study further substantiated the direct relationship between length of time spent in an institution and higher risk associated with child competence. Within this sample, a later age of entry into an institution was related to higher risk. This finding is probably reflective of the greater abuse and neglect experienced by children who entered an institution at a later age. Surprisingly, birthweight was not significantly related to risk; this may be a function of missing data due to the children who entered institutions at later ages and for whom no birthweight information was available.

Children with Fetal Alcohol Effects: Among those six children who had been characterized as having fetal alcohol effect via report of the parents in the study, wide variability existed in their abilities ranging from average to challenged. Scores on the VABS Socialization domain ranged from 51-100; Externalizing score 52-79; and School score, 20-37. Although there is no way to quantify the amount of fetal alcohol exposure, the frequent report of alcohol abuse histories in birthmothers warrants a need for parents to continue to develop awareness of the importance of this issue and its ramifications. I have several links to fetal alcohol resources on my website: http://www.adoption-research.org/fasmain.html.

Resilient Rascals, Challenged Children, and Wounded Wonders

Victor Groza, of Case Western Reserve University, described the “multiple realities” of the families of children adopted from the orphanages of Romania. He also reported three groups of children with varying levels of adjustment to their new environments. Those with the highest levels of adjustment were the resilient rascals; those with varying levels of adjustment (mid-range between adequate and low) were the wounded wonders; and those who had the most difficulties were challenged children.

The resilient rascals of this study are the 24 children who scored above 100 on the VABS Adaptive Behavior Composite (ABC), a summary score for the communication, socialization, and daily living skills domains. A score of 100 reflects an average score as compared to the national standardization sample. In this study, the resilient rascals had a higher than average birthweight, were institutionalized later, and spent less time in the orphanage. Additionally, they had the highest scores on Expressiveness and Cohesion with respect to family environments. Remarkably, there was one child in this group with fetal alcohol effects.

There were 64 wounded wonders whose scores on the VABS ABC ranged from 70-99 (low to adequate range). This group had the highest average birthweights and youngest ages at institutionalization.

The challenged children of this study were the 17 who scored below 70 on the VABS ABC (a low adaptive behavior level). They had the lowest birthweights and the lowest FES scores. They had also spent the longest time in the orphanages. Five of the six cases of fetal alcohol effects were in this group of challenged children. Although no attachment interview was completed, parents reported three cases of the disorder within this group.

What shall we make of all this? Simply put: some are doing well, some are not. The role of families in ameliorating early risk is important and needs further exploration. This study showed that adoptive families positively influence the acquisition of competence. The families could best be described as supportive and they exerted a protective (ameliorative) effect with respect to competence.

These children are a heterogeneous group with much variation in their early experiences. Their early beginnings can be described as ranging from challenging to extremely deprived. There will be areas that need remediation. One concern is that many had experienced language delays. Child development literature points toward the potential for later difficulties with respect to academic underachievement. I strongly encourage parents to participate in research regarding the language issue. Currently, there is a study underway that can be accessed through the following website: Eastern European Adoption Coalition Some children will need professional help and some of these (and their parents) may face more than average difficulty. Nevertheless, these adoptive parents are above average in many respects and seem willing to meet the challenges: not only are they financially able, they are strongly motivated to parent successfully. They have seen their children come far, both literally and figuratively. Based on information imparted to the investigator in the interviews, this path has paralleled personal growth for the parent, too. Clinicians should never underestimate the knowledge the parents have regarding their children for they can be powerful allies in helping their children.

Once again, I thank you parents for all your help. You were a delightful group to meet and you certainly did you part to get the questionnaires returned to me, encourage your child’s teacher to do the same, and make time in you busy schedules to talk with me on the telephone. Thanks for all the photos you sent. I really enjoyed meeting you.

I would like to follow-up this study with another study within the next two years. If you would like to be contacted again, you need do nothing. I will maintain my mailing list and you will be receiving a recruitment letter for the follow-up study. If you would prefer not to be contacted, please drop me a note.

Very sincerely yours,

Teena McGuinness