A comparative study of behaviour problems between adopted and nonadopted children in India.

A review of existing literature concludes that there is an increased risk for the development of behaviour problems among adopted children compared to non-adopted children. This study was conducted with the objective of finding out whether the findings are consistent within the Indian context, which offers a different psycho-cultural setting to most western settings in which the previous studies were carried out. We compared groups of adopted children and non-adopted children on various parameters i.e. Parent Symptom Questionnaire (PSQ), ADHD rating scale, Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and the Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents (SAICA). The Malin's intelligence scale for Indian children (MISIC) was administered to the children for assessing IQ while the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) was used to diagnose psychopathology. We found that adopted children had more behaviour problems on the PSQ. On SAICA, adopted children showed less social competence. The parenting practices as revealed by the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire did not differ between the two groups. The IQ of the children in both groups was within the normal range. We concluded that the psycho-social consequences of adoption in India do not differ from those of other countries, all of which show a higher incidence of behaviour problems in adopted children.