McGuinness T M, McGuinness J P, Dyer J G
University of South Alabama College of Nursing, Community Mental Health Nursing, Springhill Area Campus, Mobile, AL 36604, USA.
J Pediatr Health Care. 2000 May-Jun;14(3):109-16.
The former Soviet Union (including the present independent republics of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania, and Georgia) is the leading source of children adopted from overseas by persons in the United States (US Department of State, 1998). This study sought to (a) characterize the current social, academic, and conduct competencies of 6- to 9-year-old children adopted from the former Soviet Union who have resided in the United States for at least 2 years and (b) evaluate both risks and protective influences of adoptive families and their relationships to competence via a structural equation model.
Telephone interviews and a postal survey of children were drawn from a US community sample of 105 children. Measures included (a) Child Behavior Checklist, (b) Teacher Report Form, (c) Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, (c) Family Environment Scale, and (d) demographic information.
Many children had experienced abuse, abandonment, or neglect between birth and entry to the institution. Their mean birth weight was 2637 g, and alcohol abuse by the birth mother was common (41%). Although the children scored below average in competence, adoptive family environments were positive and served as buffers between the risks experienced by the children and the subsequent development of competence within the adoptive family.
Children's abilities ranged from severely challenged to developmentally normal. The high rate of fetal alcohol exposure in the children may portend future challenges for families.
前苏联（包括如今独立的俄罗斯、乌克兰、拉脱维亚、白俄罗斯、立陶宛和格鲁吉亚共和国）是美国公民收养海外儿童的主要来源国（美国国务院，1998年）。本研究旨在：（a）描述那些从前苏联收养、在美国居住至少两年的6至9岁儿童当前的社交、学业和行为能力；（b）通过结构方程模型评估收养家庭的风险和保护因素及其与能力的关系。
对来自美国一个社区样本的105名儿童进行电话访谈和邮寄问卷调查。测量工具包括：（a）儿童行为量表；（b）教师报告表；（c）文兰适应行为量表；（c）家庭环境量表；以及（d）人口统计学信息。
许多儿童在出生至进入福利院期间遭受过虐待、遗弃或忽视。他们的平均出生体重为2637克，生母酗酒情况很常见（41%）。尽管这些儿童的能力得分低于平均水平，但收养家庭环境积极，起到了缓冲作用，减轻了儿童所经历的风险对其在收养家庭中后续能力发展的影响。
儿童的能力从严重受挑战到发育正常不等。儿童中胎儿酒精暴露率较高可能预示着家庭未来将面临挑战。
