Behavioral Adjustment of Adopted Chinese Girls in Single-Mother, Lesbian-Couple, and Heterosexual-Couple Households

Abstract

This study compared the behavioral adjustment of girls from families headed by single mothers and lesbian couples with their peers from married heterosexual households. The sample included 93 Chinese girls adopted by the three types of families (31 girls in each type of family). The girls in the three types of families were matched on age at adoption, age at assessment, and number of adoptive siblings. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to measure their behavior adjustment (i.e., internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and overall behavioral problems). General linear modeling revealed that children from the three types of families were not statistically different in behavioral adjustment except in the preschool-aged group's internalizing problems and the school-aged group's externalizing problems, wherein children in single-mother households scored lower than their peers from lesbian-couple households. Psychological and social-political implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• adopted children
• Chinese girls
• single-mother household
• lesbian-couple household
• behavioral adjustment