Social disclosure among Korean domestic adoptive parents: the role of self-esteem

ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationship among involuntary childlessness, social support, and social disclosure of Korean domestic adoptive parents. Data were collected from a sample of 90 such parents who had already disclosed the adoption to their child. Path analysis revealed that involuntary childlessness does not directly affect social disclosure of adoption, but it does affect the self-esteem of adoptive parents, and parental self-esteem was significantly and positively related to social disclosure. Social support reinforces the self-esteem of adoptive parents, thus contributing to the social disclosure of adoption. This research highlights the importance of pre- and post-adoption counselling that address the unique experiences of adoptive families in South Korea.

KEYWORDS:

• Involuntary childlessness
• self-esteem
• social disclosure
• adoption disclosure
• social support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jaejin Ahn

Jaejin Ahn received her Ph.D in Social welfare from Seoul National University in 2008.  Her primary research interest includes at-risk children, which include the research topics such as adoption, child maltreatment, and children in poverty. She is especially committed to adoption research since early 2000’s, conducting 'Panel Study on Korean Adopted Children' since 2006.