Groundbreaking research has been completed by a Montclair State University faculty member that hopes to provide a road map for when parents should disclose their children\u2019s adoption statuses.<\/p>\n
The study, published in the Journal of Family Issues<\/em>, is the first research in the United States showing adults who discovered they were adopted after the age of 3 \u2013 known as \u201clate discovery adoptees\u201d \u2013 reported greater emotional distress and overall lower life satisfaction, with increased levels of distress being reported the older a respondent discovered he or she was adopted.<\/p>\n The findings contradict decades of previous recommendations as to when adoption status should be disclosed, with past studies advising parents a range of options from waiting until after childhood or to disclose the status between the ages of 4-13.<\/p>\n Montclair State University Counseling and Educational Leadership Professor Amanda Baden served as the lead researcher on the study and was joined by a team of Montclair State doctoral students throughout the process.<\/p>\n \u201cI was approached by two independent researchers who wanted to collaborate on this study,\u201d says Baden of the research process. \u201cThey were both late discovery adoptees and were part of a large community of other adoptees who learned of their adoptions as adults. They wanted to explore the impact of delayed disclosure on coping and on adoptees\u2019 lives, so I am honored to be able to be able to make this contribution to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently leading the adoption research team at Montclair State University, Baden actively leads research studies in collaboration with advanced master\u2019s and doctoral students in the University\u2019s counseling programs.<\/p>\n Focusing her research on transracial adoption, counseling and therapy with the Adoption Triad (adoptee, adoptive parents and birth parents), and identity and racial ethnic issues in adoption, she hopes these latest findings will pave the way for further research and more uniform guidelines as to how to best disclose a child\u2019s adoption status.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most interesting findings was that, if we don\u2019t account for coping behaviors, those who experienced the most distress by delayed adoption disclosure were adolescents,\u201d says Baden of the research. \u201cHowever, when we accounted for the increased coping skills and options available to adults, we understood that distress actually increased as people got older. The participants shared in their narrative accounts that the betrayal they felt was a significant factor. Our findings really emphasize how secrecy and lies in adoption become corrosive to those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Click here to view the complete study in the <\/em>Journal of Family Issues<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n To learn more about Montclair State University\u2019s programmatic offerings in counseling, visit montclair.edu\/academics\/counseling<\/a>.<\/p>\n