Discrimination, Racial
Conditions
Keywords
International adoption, Family experiences, Adolescents, France
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the types of experiences faced by families in France who have adopted a child internationally. In addition, internationally adopted adolescents are invited to respond to questions about their own personal experiences.
Detailed description
Microaggressions, or unintended discrimination related to adoption have been widely investigated in the USA. These microaggressions may relate to both adoptive status and country of origin, or both. However, the prevalence and qualitative characteristics of these events have been seldom studied in other countries. Differences in cultural norms and practices among countries might influence the type and frequency of microaggressions experienced by adopted children and their families. Brief anonymous questionnaires devised to elicit personal experiences related to microaggressions will be distributed by 4 clinical services serving this population (3 pediatric, 1 child psychiatric) and by 2 large adoptive family support networks to adoptive parents in France. Frequencies and relations between experience of micro-aggressions and other variables will be analyzed.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Centre Hospitalier St Anne
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
11 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Parents : 1. Parents of an internationally adopted child, whose placement occurred at least 6 months ago 2. Willing and able to complete a questionnaire Adolescents : 1. Internationally adopted adolescents who were placed at least 6 months ago 2. Willing and able to complete a questionnaire
Exclusion criteria
Parents : 1\. Unwilling or unable to complete the questionnaire Adolescents : 1. Parents are unwilling for child to participate 2. Child is unwilling to participate 3. Unable to understand the questions
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number and type of micro-aggressions experienced by French families who have adopted internationally | parents respond to a questionnaire at a single time point, regarding their experience. Participation is hence limited to the 30 minutes required to complete the questionnaire. | Parents will respond to a questionnaire regarding their experiences of micro-aggressions as an adoptive family in France, enumerating the types of discrimination (if any) they have encountered, in what context or environment this occurred, and their feelings in response to these experiences. The types of micro-aggressions could include hearing derogatory comments about adoption in general, their child's country of origin or appearance, etc. Parents may also experience well-meaning but uninformed comments (how much did she cost?) which are also experienced as micro-aggressions. Simple frequency statistics enumerating these experiences will be compiled. These will be compared to basic demographic indicators such as the country of origin of the child, the child's age at adoption, the child's current age, the time interval since adoption, etc. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number and type of micro-aggressions experienced by internationally adopted adolescents in France | Adolescents respond to a questionnaire at a single time point, regarding their experiences as an adopted person in France. Participation is hence limited to the 30 minutes required to complete the questionnaire. | Adolescents will respond to a questionnaire regarding their experiences of micro-aggressions as adopted individuals in France, enumerating the types of discrimination (if any) they have encountered, in what context or environment this occurred, and their feelings in response to these experiences. The types of micro-aggressions could include hearing derogatory comments about adoption in general, their country of origin or appearance, etc. Adolescents may also experience well-meaning but uninformed comments (why did your real parents abandon you?) which are also experienced as micro-aggressions. Simple frequency statistics enumerating these experiences will be compiled. These will be compared to basic demographic indicators such as their country of origin, their age at adoption, their current age, the time interval since adoption, etc. |
Countries
France
Outcome results
None listed