Attachment Concerns within Adoptive Families

Both domestically and abroad, there are many children available for adoption (Intercountry Adoption, 2014). An essential therapeutic need for families who have adopted children is the development of healthy and secure relationships among family members. Adopted children sometimes present with a range of disruptive behaviors, which can complicate treatment. One meta-analysis of identified behavioral problems presenting in international adoptees, domestically adopted children, and non-adopted children, reported that adopted children demonstrated more behavioral problems, specifically increased issues related to negative internalizing and externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression, oppositional behavior, and anxiety) than non-adopted children (Juffer & Van IJzendoorn, 2005).