Factors Associated With Distress Among Support‐Seeking Adoptive Parents

Abstract

This study examined the collective effects of background factors, adoptive strains, and coping resources on emotional distress among 99 adoptive parents who responded to a mailed questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that parents reporting higher levels of emotional distress were more likely to indicate a pileup of chronic stressors related to their status as adoptive parents. More highly distressed parents also were more likely to indicate that they had adopted an older child, had experienced multiple adoptions, made greater use of emotion‐focused coping strategies, had a lower sense of mastery, and received less support from family members.