Effects of negative adoptee experiences and mediation of attitudes toward adoption on life satisfaction among international adoptees from South Korea

Abstract

Adoption is not an event that ends with a child's placement, but a lifelong process that affects various dimensions of the adoptee's life. This study examines how adoption-related problems and social support affect life satisfaction among international adoptees from South Korea, and whether their attitudes toward adoption mediate these effects. Data were obtained from the 2013 Survey on International Korean Adoptees. Of the adoptees surveyed, 68.3% experienced social discrimination and 72.1% acknowledged having an identity crisis growing up. Path analysis revealed that negative experiences and social support directly and indirectly affected adoptees' life satisfaction. International adoptees who experienced identity crises and social discrimination worried more about their adoption status and felt less life satisfaction, whereas adoptees with more social support expressed positive attitudes toward adoption and felt greater life satisfaction. Adoptees' attitudes toward adoption were positively related to their life satisfaction, and this partially mediated the effects of negative experiences and social support of international adoptees. This study's results support the need for post-adoption services to address identity crises and social discrimination among international adoptees at all developmental stages and additionally emphasize the protective role of social support. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd