Families with Internationally Adopted Children in Finland: A Study of Emotional Availability in the Early Interaction




Kuusela, Katarina L.; Raaska, Hanna; Elovainio, Marko J.; Heikkilä, Anna-Riitta; Hakulinen, Christian A.; Flykt, Marjo S.; Lapinleimu, Helena

PublisherSPRINGER

NEW YORK

2024

Child Psychiatry and Human Development

CHILD PSYCHIATRY & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

CHILD PSYCHIAT HUM D

12

0009-398X

1573-3327

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-024-01769-0

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10578-024-01769-0

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/470999929



A well-functioning parent-child relationship is crucial for the child's psychological development. We examined the Emotional Availability (EA) in the early interaction of internationally adopted children with their mothers. We also studied whether the quality of the interaction was associated with the sex of the adopted children, the age at the time of adoption, the time they had spent in the family and parental depressive symptoms. The study sample was part of the Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) study and included 79 children (mean age at adoption = 2.58 years, SD = 1.51 months, 37% girls) and their adoptive mothers in Finland. The mother-child interactions were examined with Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) during the first months after adoption (mean = 6.3 months). Our results showed that the overall EA scores were relatively high (mean 4.78-6.18), although the mean levels of parent sensitivity, parent non-intrusiveness, child responsiveness and child involvement were under the high zone of the EA (< 5.5). Children adopted at a younger age and boys received lower scores in the interaction analysis. Our results suggest that families with internationally adopted children seem to be able to create a well-functioning early relationship between the mother and the child.


Open Access funding provided by University of Helsinki (including Helsinki University Central Hospital). This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (339390), the Arvo and Lea Ylppö Foundation, EVO (state funding for university-level health research) grant from Turku University Hospital, the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, the Finnish Psychiatric Association, the Foundation for Pediatric Research, the Pediatric Research Center and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.


Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:23