Biomedical subjects

H J Versluis-den Bieman

Publications and source records attributed to H J Versluis-den Bieman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Psychological assessments before and after treatment of early puberty in adopted children.

UNLABELLED: Early puberty is frequently observed in adopted children. This randomized trial treated 30 adopted children with early puberty and short stature with either gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) alone or in combination with growth hormone (GH) for 3 y. Before the start of treatment (T1) in the trial and at discontinuation (T2) the children and their parents underwent a psychological evaluation. At the start of treatment the children did not have increased levels of behavioural or emotional problems as assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). During treatment the CBCL scores did not increase. Self-perception of the children appeared to be normal, and after 3 y a significantly higher score for acceptance by peers was observed. At T1, an overestimation of future height was present in 80% of the children and 17% of the parents. Lower family stress was observed at T1 and T2 compared with reference values. Intelligence quotient levels decreased significantly during treatment. The findings are discussed with reference to the reported levels of behavioural and emotional problems in adopted children and the psychosocial effects of precocious puberty. CONCLUSION: This psychological evaluation did not reveal any consistent abnormalities in adopted children with early puberty. Treatment with GnRHa with or without GH did not increase emotional and behavioural problems in adopted children, nor was their self-perception decreased.

Adoption↗

PubMed1995

Developmental course of problem behaviors in adolescent adoptees.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the 3-year developmental course of problem behaviors and competencies in intercountry adoptees in adolescence and to determine the role of ethnicity and early adverse environmental influences on the development of problem behaviors. METHOD: In this prospective study, a sample of 1,538 intercountry adoptees, aged 11 to 14 years at initial assessment and 14 to 17 years at follow-up, were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at both occasions. RESULTS: Across the follow-up interval there was an increase in problem behaviors and a decrease in competencies. Increases in problem scores were greatest for the CBCL scales Withdrawn and Delinquent Behavior. These findings contrasted with the results from a longitudinal study of an epidemiological sample of children from the general population. The increase in problem scores could not be attributed to the age of the child at placement, the medical condition at placement, early neglect or abuse, or racial antagonism. CONCLUSION: In contrast with their agemates from the general population, intercountry adoptees showed an increase in maladaptive functioning in adolescence. Because early adverse influences were not responsible for the increase of problems, it was concluded that other factors pertaining to adolescent development interact negatively with adoption-specific factors that render individuals vulnerable to deviation from the normal developmental pathway.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Self-reported and parent reported problems in adolescent international adoptees.

Self-reported and parent reported problem behaviors of 1,538 intercountry adopted adolescents aged 14-18 years were compared with those from general population samples; 22% of the adopted boys, and 18% of the adopted girls could be regarded deviant according to self-reports, compared with about 10% of the subjects from the general population. Parents' reports showed a slightly greater difference between adopted versus nonadopted boys. Childhood deprivation was weakly associated with later parent reported, but not with self-reported problems. Racial antagonism was not related to problem behaviors. Adolescence may constitute a period of increased vulnerability for adopted children.

Acculturation↗

PubMed1994

International adoption of children with siblings: behavioral outcomes.

In a study of internationally adopted children in the Netherlands 399 children placed with one or more siblings were followed up approximately ten years after placement. A comparison of problem behavior in this group with that of 1,749 children placed alone shows that the adoption of sibling groups is relatively successful.

Acculturation↗

PubMed1992

Damaging backgrounds: later adjustment of international adoptees.

In this study of 2,148 international adoptees aged 10 to 15 years, the influence of early adverse experiences on later adjustment was examined. It was found that early neglect, abuse, and the number of changes of caretaking environment increased the risk for later maladjustment. The older the age of the child at placement, the greater the probability that the child had been subjected to psychosocial adversities. This association sufficiently explained the greater likelihood of later maladjustment with increasing age of the child at placement. Age at placement, as such, did not contribute to the prediction of later maladjustment, independent of the influence of early adversities. The present study underscores the importance that parents and professionals should obtain reliable and detailed information on the child's background and functioning before adoption. This study also showed that the majority of adopted children, even those with backgrounds known to be damaging, seemed to function quite well according to their parents' reports.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1990

Problem behavior in international adoptees: I. An epidemiological study.

Behavioral/emotional problems and competencies in 2,148 international adoptees aged 10 to 15 years were compared with those in a same-aged sample of 933 children from the general population using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Parents reported more externalizing problem behavior for adopted than nonadopted children. More than twice as many 12- to 15-year-old adopted boys were scored above the cutoff criterion for problem behavior than nonadopted boys of the same age. For adopted boys in this age range especially high scores were obtained on the Delinquent and Hyperactive syndromes. Adopted children were scored less competent than nonadopted children in their social and academic functioning, whereas adopted children were found to be more active in nonsports activities and to function somewhat better than nonadopted children in sports and nonsports activities. In contrast to the effect of parental occupational level on competent scores for normative American and Dutch samples, adopted children from lower SES showed better academic performance, were less often referred to special classes, and had less other school problems than adopted children from higher SES.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Problem behavior in international adoptees: II. Age at placement.

This study of 2,148 international adoptees aged 10 to 15 indicated that the older the child at placement the greater the probability that the child will develop behavioral/emotional problems and/or will perform less well in school. For 12- to 15-year-olds, the authors found that the older the child at placement, the greater the risk for obtaining high scores on the following Child Behavior Checklist Syndromes: The delinquent and uncommunicative syndromes in boys, and the cruel, depressed, and schizoid syndromes in girls.

Adolescent↗