Families with Internationally Adopted Children in Finland: A Study of Emotional Availability in the Early Interaction.

A well-functioning parent-child relationship is crucial for the child's psychological development. We examined the Emotional Availability (EA) in the early interaction of internationally adopted children with their mothers. We also studied whether the quality of the interaction was associated with the sex of the adopted children, the age at the time of adoption, the time they had spent in the family and parental depressive symptoms.

Hair cortisol and psychiatric symptomatology in children; outcomes of group CBT.

The associations between hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a biomarker of chronic stress, and behavior and sleep disturbance symptoms have not been studied in children with psychiatric disorders. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proven effective in treating psychiatric symptoms in children, its potential biological implications as determined by HCC have not been investigated. We explored associations between HCC, behavior and sleep disturbance symptoms, and different diagnostic groupings (depression/anxiety, ADHD, or other types of psychiatric disorders) in clinician-diagnosed 6-12-year-old children (n = 100) with mixed psychiatric disorders and comorbidities.

One-third of children had clinical signs of developmental coordination disorder 6 months after their international adoption.

Aim: Our aim was to fill a gap in the research about the prevalence of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) among internationally adopted children. We explored the prevalence of signs of DCD and the associations between those and behavioural problems six and 18 months after adoption.

Methods: The data came from the ongoing Finnish Adoption Study 2 and this research focused on the international adoptions of children under 7 years of age between 2012 and 2016.

Effectiveness of speech therapy in treating vocal blocking tics in children with Tourette syndrome: Two case reports.

Tourette syndrome is characterized by at least two motor tics and one vocal tic, which persist for over a year. Infrequently, tics can manifest as blocking tics in speech when they prevent a person from starting to speak or interrupt their speech flow. Vocal blocking tics (VBTs) resemble stuttering, and they can be difficult to differentiate from each other.

Child Eveningness as a Predictor of Parental Sleep.

Child eveningness has been associated with many adverse outcomes for children. The aim of this study was to assess whether child eveningness poses a risk to parental sleep quality in follow-up. A total of 146 children (57% adopted, 47% boys, mean age at follow-up 5.

Effectiveness of Group CBT on Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Children with Mixed Psychiatric Disorders.

Background: Our study addressed the gap in research on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating children with mixed psychiatric disorders. We examined the immediate and long-term effects of group CBT (GCBT), delivered in naturalistic clinical settings, on reducing internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children with mixed psychiatric disorders. Further, we compared the effectiveness of cost-effective, manualized GCBT to treatment as usual (TAU) consisting of individually tailored psychiatric outpatient services delivered by mental health care specialists.

Changes in objectively measured sleep among internationally adopted children in 1-year follow-up during the first years in new families.

Background: Psychosocial risks and environmental changes experienced by internationally adopted children may predict sleep problems, which are incidentally among the main concerns of adoptive parents. Several questionnaire studies have found sleep of internationally adopted children to be problematic, but none of those used an objective measure in a controlled study.

Objective: To determine whether the objectively recorded sleep of internationally adopted children is worse than their controls who are living with their biological parents.

Do the Temperamental Characteristics of Both Mother and Child Influence the Well-Being of Adopted and Non-Adopted Children?

(1) Background: For decades, the temperaments of infants and small children have been a focus of studies in human development and been seen as a potential contributor to children's developmental patterns. However, less is known about the interplay between the temperamental characteristics of mothers and their children in the context of explaining variations in developmental outcomes. The aim of our study was to explore the associations-with or without genetic links-of the temperaments and psychological distress of mothers and the temperaments of children with behavioral problems in a group of internationally adopted children and their adoptive mothers and in a group of non-adopted children and their mothers.

The effects of maternal depression on their perception of emotional and behavioral problems of their internationally adopted children.

Background: Even though child psychopathology assessment guidelines emphasize comprehensive multi-method, multimodal, and multi-informant methodologies, maternal-report symptom-rating scales often serve as the predominant source of information. Research has shown that parental mood symptomatology affects their reports of their offspring's psychopathology. For example, the depression-distortion hypothesis suggests that maternal depression promotes a negative bias in mothers' perceptions of their children's behavioral and emotional problems.

Intestinal parasites may be associated with later behavioral problems in internationally adopted children.

Aim: At arrival in new home country, internationally adopted children often have intestinal parasites. International adoptees also exhibit more behavioral problems than their biological peers. We examined whether intestinal parasite infections in international adoptees on arrival in Finland are associated with their later behavioral and emotional problems.

Bullying Among International Adoptees: Testing Risks and Protective Factors.

This study examined the risks and protective factors for experiencing bullying and especially racist bullying among internationally adopted children in Finland. Factors examined were related to children's background, adoptive family, children's social problems and social skills, and their associations with bullying experiences. About 56.

Parental depressive symptoms as a risk factor for child depressive symptoms; testing the social mediators in internationally adopted children.

Parental depressive symptoms have shown to be associated with offspring depression but much of the research has been focused on maternal depression. The aim of our study was to investigate the extent to which depressive symptoms of both parents associate with offspring depressive symptoms and whether social factors mediate these associations using data from adopted children with no shared genetic background. Data were derived from the Finnish Adoption survey study (a subsample of adopted children aged between 9 and 12 years, n = 548).

Child and family-related predictors of psychological outcomes in children adopted from abroad; what is the role of caregiver time?

International adoptees need to cope with stressful transitions and to develop secure attachment with their caregivers at the same time. Although most children adopted from abroad adjust fine, they are at increased risk of psychological problems. We investigated whether both child and family-related factors are associated with later psychological problems and whether the length of time spent at home after adoption before daycare moderates these associations among internationally adopted children in Finland (FinAdo, Finnish Adoption Study).

Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and psychological outcomes among adult international adoptees in Finland: Moderating effects of social support and sense of coherence.

Quantitative literature on international adoptees and racial/ethnic discrimination is lacking despite results in qualitative studies from Europe and the United States that have consistently indicated how racism constantly complicates adoptees' everyday lives. To advance the literature, the present study examined the prevalence of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination among 213 adult international adoptees in Finland (59.6% women and 40.

Associations between attachment-related symptoms and later psychological problems among international adoptees: results from the FinAdo study.

We examined the associations between attachment-related symptoms (symptoms of reactive attachment disorder (RAD), symptoms of disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED), and clinging) and later psychological problems among international adoptees. The study population comprised internationally adopted children (591 boys and 768 girls, 6-15 years) from the ongoing Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) study. Data were gathered with self-administered questionnaires both from adoptive parents and from adoptees aged over 9 years.

Experiences of school bullying among internationally adopted children: results from the Finnish Adoption (FINADO) Study.

This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with school bullying and victimization among Finnish international adoptees. The Olweus bully/victim questionnaire was sent to all 9-15-year-old children adopted in Finland between 1985 and 2007 through the mediating organizations officially approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The children were identified through official adoption organizations.