Anxiety Among an Australian Sample of Young Girls Adopted From China.

This study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge about post-adoption functioning of international adoptees by examining patterns of anxiety among young children adopted from China by Australian families. The study had two objectives: to examine anxiety in children adopted from China comparing this sample to available normative data and to examine the associations among child anxiety and child (e.g., age at adoption) and parent (e.g., age, education level) factors. Parents of 59 children adopted from China completed online a number of measures of child anxiety, temperament, and parent psychological well-being. Results indicated a high prevalence of anxiety symptoms among the adopted children when compared with available data from normative samples, particularly related to separation contexts. A number of factors, including inhibited temperament and younger age of parents, were associated with child anxiety. Clinical and research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]