Researchers say adopted kids may fare better

With the help of national data and researchers from the University of Connecticut, IU researchers have concluded that two-parent adoptive homes devote more time and money on their children than biological parents, said an IU press release from February.\nSociology professor Brian Powell led the research at IU, finding that on average, two-parent adoptive households, which are usually older and wealthier than biological homes, put more effort into raising their children.\n“What we did was looked at over 12,000 families in the U.S., adoptive and biological heterosexual couples,” Powell said. “Our interests were in the investments that parents put into their child – how often parents discussed issues with their children, how many children’s books were in the house, how often these children were read to and how often they had family meals.”\nThe study also looked into how well a parent knew his or her child’s friends, their relationship with the friends’ parents and whether or not a parent was involved at school, with the Parent-Teacher Association, for instance, Powell said.\n“Our data was extracted from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, and we interpreted it in relation to our study,” Powell said.\nECLS is a government-funded program that follows children from birth through kindergarten and from kindergarten through eighth grade, said U.S. Department of Education Statistician Chris Chapman.\nThe data from ECLS is collected in two separate ways, for each respective age group. The Kindergarten Cohort study, began in 1998, begins by sampling schools and students, then assesses children based on reading and mathematical skills, as well as general knowledge and sciences. Following the assessments, the parents were contacted for background information, Chapman said. The Birth Cohort study, started in 2001, has been monitoring a sample of children born during that year.\n“In the Birth Cohort study, we follow children directly from birth,” Chapman said. “The difference with this study and the KCS is that the parents are directly consulted, rather than going through the schools first. At nine months old, we assess the infants based upon cognitive development and motor skills.”\nThe actual data collected from the Kindergarten Cohort study can be accessed through the U.S. Department of Education, either in hard-copy or in Internet form. The Birth Cohort study is under restrictive usage, and researchers must apply for a license, Chapman said. Powell’s study used only the Kindergarten Cohort study data, Powell said.\nThe study, called “Adoptive Parents, Adaptive Parents: Evaluating the Importance of Biological Ties for Parental Investment,” is a first of its type, Powell said. He was assisted by IU doctoral student of sociology Laura Hamilton and University of Connecticut assistant professor Simon Cheng.\n“There have previously been similar studies, but they were isolated and limited studies,” he said. “Most were not as comprehensive or extensive as this study.”\nThe research is notable, however, in fields of legality and academia, in issues of whether or not children are better suited with their biological parents. The study contradicts studies completed by early psychologists, which claimed that natural-born parents provide more for their children as opposed to adoptive parents, according to an IU press release.\n“The thing to stress here is that this is on average,” Powell said. “These are just trends that we found in the data, that non-biological parents devote more to their child than biological parents.”\nThe study details can be accessed online at http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Feb07ASRAdoption.pdf.