Donahue,
Elizabeth (5/08) Open communication in adoption and adoptive identity
development (Rhiannon Allen, Ph.D.; Lisa Samstag, Ph.D.; David Castro Blanco, Ph.D.)
Adoption communication openness (ACO)
(Brodzinsky, 2005) refers to a communication process that is open, honest, and
supportive of adoption-related emotions. The present study examined the
relationship between ACO in the adoptive family and adoptive identity
development in adults. Adoptive identity was measured using a new self-report,
categorical measure based on Dunbar's (2003) adoptive identity typology, which
distinguishes four types characterized by increasing exploration and narrative
development regarding adoptive identity: Unexamined, Limited, Unsettled and
Integrated. The present study proposed that ACO would promote exploration of
adoption issues, culminating in either a state of active exploration (Unsettled
identity) or integration of adoption (Integrated identity) into overall
identity. Participants completed an online survey including measures of ACO,
preoccupation with adoption, and negative and positive feelings about adoption.
Although ACO levels were associated with positive feelings about having been
adopted, they were not associated with the adoptive identity types in the manner
predicted by the study's hypotheses. Several explanations for these results are
offered, the most important of these being that positive feelings may be
related to a pre-crisis stage of denial of impending identity challenges
(Grotevant, 1997a). Consistent with Dunbar's (2003) findings, the Unsettled
participants were the most preoccupied and unhappy, whereas Unexamined
participants were the least preoccupied, and older adults were more likely to
be Unsettled or Integrated.
