Comparison of Korean-American adoptees and biological children of their adoptive parents: A pilot study

This study compared a small group of Korean-American adoptees with their ad optive siblings who are biological children of the adoptive parents with re spect to their psychosocial adjustment. Eighteen Korean-American adoptees w ere compared with nine biological children by a structured demographic, med ical, clinical survey form and the Child Behavior Checklist-Parent Form (CB CL-P). The parents did not raise any more concerns about the adjustment of adopted children than their biological children. On the CBCL-P, the two gro ups did not differ significantly in competence T-scores, total behavioral p roblems, broad band T-scores and the total number of problem behaviors exce pt for lower social competence in adopted children and a higher internaliza tion score in biological children. In conclusion, the international adoptee s, the Korean-American children have adjusted well during their early child hood after early adoption. Further studies employing a larger sample are wa rranted to better understand the international adoption practice.