Adoption is a social welfare measure of the state to protect children whose parents have died or are unable or unwilling to care for them. It turned out to be the most suitable solution, as it solves the plight of all three parties in the so-called adoptive triad: abandoned children, their biological parents, and couples who cannot have biological children. However, due to many circumstances, genetic and various pre- and post-adoption ones, which affect the psychological development of the child, it opens many questions to which the international research community still looks for credible answers.
Because international research on the psychological development of people who have experienced adoption compared to those who grew up in a biological family, shows conflicting results, and because those studying adults who have experienced adoption are few in number, less is known about the long-term consequences of this intervention. In this doctoral dissertation, we, therefore, wanted to verify, on this population and in our cultural environment, whether their self-image differs from the self-image of people who grew up in the biological family, and to determine whether their ability for intimacy and affect regulation differs from the ability for intimacy and affect regulation in adults who grew up in their biological family. In addition, we wanted to find out what helped adults with the experience of adoption who managed to develop a good self-image to do so, or which factors contributed to this. We also wanted to check whether Relational Family Therapy, as a new, innovative method, is effective in improving the self-image and the ability to have close relationships and regulate the feelings of adults with the experience of adoption and which aspects of it are helpful in this.
The doctoral dissertation with the title “Self-Esteem and Abilities for Intimacy and Emotion Regulation in Adopted Adults from the Perspective of Relational Family Therapy” is divided into a quantitative and a qualitative part. In the theoretical part, we focused on shedding light on phenomena such as adoption, self-image, identity and self-esteem, intimacy and fear of it, affect regulation, and abandonment as relational trauma, and presented the basics of Relational Family Therapy (RFT). We devoted the last chapter to the biblical-theological aspect, in which we presented some parts that relate to the attitude toward orphans.
The empirical part includes a quantitative and a qualitative part. In the quantitative part, we determined the differences between the self-image and the ability for intimacy and affect regulation in persons with the experience of adoption and those who grew up in the biological family, as well as the differences in the self-image and the ability for intimacy and affect regulation in individuals with the experience of adoption who were included in group therapy according to the RFT model, and individuals with adoption experience who were not involved in group therapy according to the RFT model. We tested the hypotheses on a population of adults who were adopted (24 participants) and adults who grew up in a biological family (64 participants) with questionnaires on self-image (RSES and SERS), fear of intimacy (FIS), and emotional processing (EPS). The results showed that adults with the experience of adoption do not statistically significantly differ from adults who grew up in a biological family in terms of self-image, fear of intimacy, and affect regulation, although we measured better results on average for the former on most scales. The results also showed that between the group that attended group therapy according to the RFT model and the group that did not participate in the therapy, there were no statistically significant differences in self-image, fear of intimacy and affect regulation after the therapy, even though in the group who attended therapy we measured better results on all observed variables.
In the qualitative part, we focused on the identification of factors that contributed to the development of a good self-image in adults with the experience of adoption, and aspects of RFT that help improve self-image and the ability of intimacy and affect regulation in adults with the experience of adoption. We collected data through semi-structured interviews conducted with 11 participants in the therapy group and two adults who were adopted but were not included in the therapy group. We found that the formation of a good self-image is correlated with secure attachment, upbringing, type of adoption, knowledge of one’s biological origin, self-image in childhood and adolescence, good interpersonal relationships, and one’s own responsibility for self-image in adulthood. Among the aspects of RFT that helped to improve self-image and the ability to be intimate and regulate affects, the participants of the therapy group indicated an empathetic attitude towards the client, addressing and regulating affects, mirroring the client’s abilities and strengths, psychoeducation, the therapist’s personality traits and her professional competence, and group dynamics. Based on the reflections written by the group therapy participants, we wrote a grounded theory about some aspects of the experiences of people who had been adopted, specifically about their attitude towards themselves, their biological and adoptive parents, their friendships and intimate couple relationships, and their attitude to parenthood. We dedicated a special chapter to the description of therapy after the meetings and countertransference dynamics in group therapy with adults who have experienced adoption.
Among the limitations of our research which are due to the hard-to-reach population, we should mention a small and therefore less representative number of participants with the experience of adoption, insufficient data on the circumstances of the adoption of the participants in the control group, insufficient data on the patterns of communication in the family into which the participants were adopted, and a predominantly female sample of the population.
The dissertation is an important contribution to a better understanding of the long-term consequences of adoption and thus to the expansion of the knowledge of professionals working in this field, as well as the knowledge and thus the effectiveness of the RFT therapists working with clients who have experienced adoption.
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