Parental perception of developmental vulnerability after inter-country adoption: A 10-year follow-up study: Longitudinal study after inter-country adoption

The goal of the study was to identify developmental disabilities in internationally adopted children and evaluate the utility of pre-adoption screening. Methods: Parents of 191 adopted children (80.93%) completed the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) questionnaire. Responses were analyzed for the reported presence of developmental dysfunction in the children. Results: For 137 children, parental response rates ranged from 55% to 74.4% at different junctures. The cumulative incidence of reported concerns over developmental and behavioral disabilities at 12 years post-adoption was 79%. Children adopted after 1-year-old had more behavioral problems than those adopted earlier (relative risk=4.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.97-22.07). Conclusions: Parents perceive international adoption as being associated with a substantial risk for developmental problems. Even meticulous pre-adoption screening cannot preclude developmental problems that may appear in later childhood.