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The present study examined genetic, prenatal, and postnatal environmental pathways in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety and depressive symptoms from parents to early adolescents (when these symptoms start to increase), while considering timing effects of exposure to parent anxiety and depressive symptoms postnatally. The sample was from the Early Growth and Development Study, including 561 adopted children (57% male, 55% White, 13% Black/African American, 11% Hispanic/Latine, 20% multiracial, 1% other; 407 provided data in early adolescence) and their birth (BP) and adoptive parents (AP). Using a trait–state–occasion model with eight assessments from child ages 9 months to 11 years, we partitioned trait-like AP anxiety and depressive symptoms from time-specific fluctuations of AP anxiety and depressive symptoms. Offspring anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed at 11 years (while controlling for similar symptoms at 4.5 years). Results suggested that time-specific fluctuations of AP1 (mostly mothers) anxiety/depressive symptoms in infancy (9 months) were indirectly associated with offspring anxiety/depressive symptoms at 11 years via offspring anxiety/depressive symptoms at 4.5 years; time-specific fluctuations of AP1 anxiety/depressive symptoms at child age 11 years were concurrently associated with offspring anxiety/depressive symptoms at 11 years. AP2 (mostly fathers) anxiety/depressive symptoms were not associated with offspring symptoms. Genetic and prenatal influences measured by BP internalizing problems were not associated with offspring symptoms. Results suggested infancy and early adolescence as developmental periods when children are susceptible to influences of parent anxiety and depressive symptoms. Preventive interventions should consider time-specific fluctuations in parent anxiety and depressive symptoms during these developmental periods. Public Significance Statement: Anxiety and depressive symptoms run in families mainly through environmental influences. We found that time-specific fluctuations of adoptive parent (mostly mothers) anxiety and depressive symptoms during infancy and early adolescence were associated with early adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms. Programs aimed at preventing anxiety and depressive symptoms during early adolescence could screen for time-specific fluctuations of parent (mainly mothers) anxiety and depressive symptoms during infancy and early adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which compared the prevalence of commonly screened infections in internationally adopted children as a distinct population seen at an international adoption clinic (IAC) by region of adoption. Topics discussed include demographics and testing results by region, overall rate of positive tuberculosis screening, and the decline in the number of children adopted from other countries since the global pandemic.

Evidence suggests an increasing number of US families are adopting internationally born children with HIV (IACH). Little is known about the experiences of adoptive parents, particularly how they help children navigate adolescence. Many adopted children may have additional needs as they mature into adolescence. Forty-four parents of 51 IACH were recruited from three pediatric infectious disease clinics and social media sites. The majority identified as white (n = 43), Christian (n = 38), and female (n = 43). Mean age of adoptees was 10.1 years (range 3–19, 33 females, 25 from African countries, and Russia, Ukraine, China, Haiti, Columbia, Estonia). Participants completed semi-structured audio-recorded interviews focused on experienced and potential challenges as their child matures. Interviews were coded for emergent themes. Findings identified universal concerns about sexuality. Some parents had not yet discussed sex with their child due to age/level of maturity. Others stated they had "the talk" and some emphasized the importance of abstinence before marriage while others highlighted the importance of comprehensive sex education and open communication. Finally, parents acknowledged that HIV was a manageable illness and hoped their children lived long healthy lives. Medical and mental health clinicians can support families as their child transitions into adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a genetic condition that predominantly affects minority populations in the United States. A lack of access to care is strongly associated with poor outcomes and quality of care among children and adolescents with SCA. The use of telehealth, which has rapidly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been shown to improve access to care for many conditions. However, the adoption of telehealth among children and adolescents with SCA is unknown. Methods: We identified children 1–17 years old with SCA continuously enrolled in Michigan Medicaid from January 2019 to December 2020. The number of in-person and telehealth outpatient visits (both urgent and routine) were summarized prepandemic (January 2019–February 2020) and during the pandemic (March 2020–December 2020); National Provider Identifier was used to identify provider specialty for telehealth visits. Results: The study population comprised 493 children with SCA with a mean age of 8.7 (±4.9) years at study entry. Prepandemic, there were 4,367 outpatient visits; 4,348 (99.6%) were in-person and 19 (0.4%) were telehealth. During the pandemic, there were 2,307 outpatient visits; 2,059 (89.3%) were in-person and 248 (10.7%) were telehealth. Telehealth visits peaked in April 2020 and declined thereafter. The majority of telehealth visits were to hematology (49%), followed by adult subspecialists (27%) and pediatrics/family medicine (14%). Discussion/Conclusions: While the overall number of outpatient visits declined during the initial months of the pandemic compared with 2019, use of telehealth rapidly increased among children and adolescents with SCA. Additional research is needed to understand patient and provider preferences for telehealth and the roles that federal and state policies can play in facilitating telehealth adoption among children and adolescents with SCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article examines adoption as a strategy used by parents in the United States to fulfill their preference for a specific sex composition among their children. Background: Evidence from the United States suggests that parents with children of the same sex are more likely to continue childbearing, as parents generally desire at least one girl and one boy. What is unknown, however, is whether parents use adoption to fulfill this same preference. Method: Using data from the 2016 American Community Survey (n = 1,107,800 children), the authors test the relationships among the sex composition of preceding siblings, child sex, and adoption status. Results: Children who had same‐sex preceding siblings were more likely to be adopted, as opposed to biologically related to their parents, than children who had mixed‐sex preceding siblings. Furthermore, adopted children were more likely to be of the missing sex (i.e., adopted girls were more likely than were adopted boys to have only preceding brothers). Conclusion: These findings suggest a need to consider parental sex preferences and child sex in studies on adoption decisions. Furthermore, the results point to adoption as an additional mechanism parents can use to achieve a balanced sex composition among their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screening for hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is not currently routinely recommended in internationally adopted children. International adoptees seen at the University of Minnesota International Adoption Clinic from 2006 to 2010 were assessed for acute HAV infection (positive HAV immunoglobulin M). Thirty of the 656 children screened (4.6%) were acutely HAV infected. HAV-infected children emigrated from Ethiopia (16), Guatemala (4), China (2), Colombia (2), Haiti (2), Philippines (2), Liberia (1), and Nepal (1). Infection was most frequent among children younger than 2 years (6.7%). No symptoms distinguished children with acute HAV infection from uninfected children. HAV infection caused significant social disruption, including separation of children from their ill adoptive parents during the initial weeks postarrival, a period important for postadoption adjustment and attachment. All international adoptees arriving from countries with high or intermediate HAV endemicity should be screened for HAV infection on arrival to the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OBJECTIVE: We asked whether adoption status represented a risk of suicide attempt for adopted and nonadopted offspring living in the United States. We also examined whether factors known to be associated with suicidal behavior would mediate the relationship between adoption status and suicide attempt. METHODS: Participants were drawn from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study, which included 692 adopted and 540 nonadopted offspring and was conducted at the University of Minnesota from 1998 to 2008. Adoptees were systematically ascertained from records of 3 large Minnesota adoption agencies; nonadoptees were ascertained from Minnesota birth records. Outcome measures were attempted suicide, reported by parent or offspring, and factors known to be associated with suicidal behavior including psychiatric disorder symptoms, personality traits, family environment, and academic disengagement. RESULTS: The odds of a reported suicide attempt were ~4 times greater in adoptees compared with nonadoptees (odds ratio: 4.23). After adjustment for factors associated with suicidal behavior, the odds of reporting a suicide attempt were reduced but remained significantly elevated (odds ratio: 3.70). CONCLUSIONS: The odds for reported suicide attempt are elevated in individuals who are adopted relative to those who are not adopted. The relationship between adoption status and suicide attempt is partially mediated by factors known to be associated with suicidal behavior. Continued study of the risk of suicide attempt in adopted offspring may inform the larger investigation of suicidality in all adolescents and young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption and foster care are assumed to be safer options for children than remaining in the care of their family of origin, yet the media reports murders of these children with alarming frequency. These deaths not only are tragic but profoundly violate the public understanding of adoption and foster care. Despite the possibility of an increasing occurrence of such filicides, few states have procedures to systematically collect information on incidents of serious harm or deaths of adopted children or children in foster care. To fill this gap, this paper endeavors to illuminate characteristics of these deaths by using media accounts as an information source. The importance of such an inquiry-and its inherent limitations-calls for more attention and methods directed toward capturing data on the murders, serious abuse, and other deaths of children under governmental care. Some states and other countries (most notably the United Kingdom) have developed mechanisms for aggregating and reviewing serious harm cases to prevent such tragic and unacceptable outcomes. Several options are forwarded for use in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to estimate disability rates for internationally adopted children in the United States. METHODS: We conducted an analysis of restricted-access data from the complete long form of Census 2000 for internationally adopted children aged 5 to 15 in 2000, estimating disability rates by country of origin, controlling for gender, age at adoption, current age, and parental characteristics. RESULTS: Internationally adopted children have disability rates similar to those adopted domestically (11.7% vs 12.2%, respectively) and more than twice the rate for all children in that age range (5.8%). The adjusted odds of disability relative to domestic adoptees range from one half or less (China and Korea) to twice as large or more (Romania, Bulgaria, other Eastern Europe, and other Western Europe). CONCLUSIONS: The population of internationally adopted children is relatively small and diverse, posing challenges for researchers who hope to reach generalizable conclusions. Nevertheless, health, education, and social service professionals, as well as adoptive and prospective adoptive parents, should be aware of the risk for disabilities among internationally adopted children to devote the resources necessary to addressing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results are presented on the whereabouts of 516 adopted children, based on a random sample of children adopted from placement in New York City in 1996. Data from interviews with adoptive parents were augmented by information from adoption subsidy records and state child tracking files, as well as interviews with caregivers of children whose adoptive parents were deceased. There were few dissolutions, but postadoption service needs were many. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]