Parents' Feelings Towards Adoptive and Biological Children

NIH Public Access
Author Manuscript
Infant Child Dev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 November 16.
Published in final edited form as:
NIH-PA Author Manuscript
Infant Child Dev. 2010 May 1; 19(3): 238–251.
Parents’ Feelings Towards Their Adoptive and Non-Adoptive

Children
Marshaun B. Glovera,*, Paula Y. Mullineauxa, Kirby Deater-Deckarda, and Stephen A.

Petrillb
a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
b Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Abstract
In the current study, we examined parent gender differences in feelings (negativity and positivity)
and perceptions of child behavioural and emotional problems in adoptive and biological parent–child
dyads. In a sample of 85 families, we used a novel within-family adoption design in which one child
was adopted and one child was a biological child of the couple, and tested whether the links between
parent feelings and child maladjustment included effects of passive gene–environment correlation.
Parents reported more negativity and less positivity as well as higher levels of externalizing behaviour
for the adopted child compared to the non-adopted child, although effect sizes were small and no
longer statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Fathers and mothers did not
differ significantly in their reports of positive and negative feelings towards their children or in regard
to child externalizing and internalizing behaviours. The correlations between parental negativity and
positivity and child externalizing and internalizing were similar for fathers and mothers, and for
adopted and non-adopted children. The findings suggest similar parent–child relationship processes
for fathers and mothers, and that genetic transmission of behaviour from parent to child does not
account for the association between parental warmth and hostility and child-adjustment problems.
Keywords
parent-child relations; adoption; child adjustment; passive gene-environment correlation
PARENTS’ FEELINGS TOWARDS THEIR ADOPTIVE AND BIOLOGICAL

CHILDREN
Studies have found evidence for within-family variation in parent–child relationships
indicating that parents differ in their relationships with children within the same family
(O’Connor, Dunn, & Rasbash, 2006). Other studies report associations between parent–child
relationship qualities and child emotional and behavioural adjustment problems (Asbury,
Dunn, Pike, & Plomin, 2003; Conger, Ge, Elder, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994). What processes
operate to account for these effects, and do they work similarly for fathers and mothers and for
adoptive and non-adoptive (i.e. ‘biological’) parent–child dyads? Gaps in the literature include
an emphasis on mothers at the expense of studying fathers, and on studies of one biological
parent–child dyad per family, which does not permit distinguishing environmental and genetic
influences. Therefore, the goals of the current study were to examine parent gender differences
in the links between parental negativity and positivity, and child behavioural and emotional
*
Correspondence to: Marshaun B. Glover, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA 20460,
USA. mbglover@vt.edu.
Glover et al. Page 2
problems. We tested whether the links between parent feelings and child behaviour differed
for fathers and mothers, and for adoptive and non-adoptive children within the same families.
Father and Mother Negativity and Positivity

Children who show higher levels of aggressive and delinquent behaviours (i.e. externalizing
problems) as well as anxious or depression symptoms (i.e. internalizing problems) tend to have
more problematic relationships with their parents, including more negativity and less warmth
(Rohner, 2004; Sheeber, Hops, & Davis, 2001; Siqueland, Kendall, & Steinberg, 1996).
Fathers’ and mothers’ levels of negativity and warmth within the same family are moderately
correlated (in the 0.4 range; Richmond & Stocker, 2006; Stocker, Richmond, Low, Alexander,
& Elias, 2003). Mothers and fathers also tend to agree (correlations in the 0.4–0.6 range) in
their ratings of their children’s behavioural and emotional problems (Kurdek, 2004). With
respect to parent gender differences in average levels of warmth and negativity, studies indicate
similar parent feelings for women and men (for a review, see Deater-Deckard, 2004). However,
little is known regarding parent gender differences in warmth and negativity with respect to
potential differences for adoptive versus non-adoptive parent–child relationships. Our first aim
was to extend the research literature by comparing fathers’ and mothers’ self-reported positivity
and negativity towards an adopted child and a non-adoptive biological child within the same
families.
Adoptive Status
In regard to adoption and children’s development, previous studies suggest that being adopted
may convey risk for later psychological or behavioural problems (Iervolino, 2003; Sullivan,
Wells, & Bushnell, 1995). A meta-analysis by Wierzbicki (1993) revealed an effect size of
0.72 across studies comparing maladjustment (i.e. internalizing, externalizing, academic,
psychotic, and neurological problems) of non-adoptees and adoptees, leading to the conclusion
that on average, adopted children had higher levels of maladjustment. More recently, Juffer
and van Ijzendoorn (2005) conducted a meta-analysis of studies of internationally adopted
children and found a similar result. Adoptive status may reflect environmental and genetic
factors that contribute to a higher risk of maladjustment that accompanies adoption, such as
poor prenatal conditions, low-quality institutionalization before placement, and genetic risks
for maladjustment transmitted from biological parents (Cadoret, 1990; Verhulst, Althaus, &
Versluis-Den Bieman, 1990). The effects of these risks may be amplified within families in
which some children are adopted and some are the biological children of the adoptive parents
(Sharma, McGue, & Benson, 1998).
Research examining adoptive parents’ feelings of warmth and negativity suggest that adoptees
may be regarded by their adoptive parents with more negativity and less warmth compared to
non-adoptive parents’ feelings towards their biological children (Braungart, 1994). Thus, our
second aim was to explore potential adoptive status mean differences in problem behaviour
(externalizing and internalizing) and parental feelings (negativity and positivity). Research on
the role of adoptive status on child adjustment and family processes has relied on comparisons
of adoptees’ scores to the norms for standardized instruments or on between-family
comparisons of children in adoptive versus biological families. Between-family designs may
exaggerate mean differences, to the extent that the non-adoptive biological families in
normative or comparison samples are systematically different from adoptive families.
To address this limitation, the current study involved a design in which biological and adoptive
parent–child dyads were compared within the same family, rather than comparing families who
have adopted to those who have not adopted. This within-family parent–child design has the
advantage of not requiring an assumption about comparability of adoptive and biological
families—in the within-family design, each parent serves as his or her own basis for
comparison. This is not a new design; several past adoption studies have included some families
that have adoptive as well as non-adoptive children who were growing up together in the same
home (Horn, Loehlin, & Willerman, 1979, 1982; Plomin & DeFries, 1985; Segal, 1997,
2000; Sharma et al., 1998), but to our knowledge none of these studies reported within-family
comparisons of parenting behaviour and its correlates.
Similar or Different Relationship Processes?

Although examination of potential mean differences for fathers versus mothers and adoptive
versus non-adoptive children is important, consideration of potential differences in the
correlations between parent and child behaviour also is critical. With regard to parent gender,
a number of studies have found similar associations for fathers and mothers between parental
warmth/negativity and child externalizing/internalizing problems (Deater-Deckard, 2004;
Feinberg, Neiderhiser, Howe, & Hetherington, 2001; Herman & McHale, 1993), although
some find evidence of parent gender differences in these correlations. For example, Brody,
Stoneman, and McCoy (1992) found that fathers were more positive towards the more
negatively emotional child, whereas mothers were more hostile and controlling towards the
more behaviourally and emotionally difficult child. In a more recent study, Tamrouti-Makkink,
Dubas, Gerris, and Aken (2004) found distinct patterns of associations between parental
warmth and adolescent adjustment problems, though the findings depended in part on the
gender of the child.
The mixed findings may be a result of studies using different methodologies—some are
longitudinal, some use observational measures as well as questionnaires, and some examine
within-family (i.e. sibling) as well as between-family (i.e. one child per family) differences.
Alternately, the mixed results could reflect sample-specific effects that collectively point to
the presence of transient small effects with respect to parent gender differences in correlations
between parenting behaviour and child behaviour. In light of these mixed findings, our third
aim was to estimate the correlations between self-reported paternal and maternal positivity and
negativity, and each child’s parent-rated externalizing and internalizing problems—and to test
for parent gender differences in the magnitude of these correlations. We anticipated that
children with more externalizing and internalizing problems would also have parents who
reported higher levels of negativity and lower levels of positivity (Patterson, 2002), although
we did not have any hypothesis regarding whether these associations would differ for fathers
and mothers.
Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

We also sought to address the possible effect of passive gene–environment correlation on the
estimation of the association between parental warmth/hostility and child problem behaviours.
Passive gene–environment correlation can be present in data in which genetically related

parents and children are being examined (Plomin, DeFries, McClearn, & Rutter, 1997). When
passive gene–environment correlation is present, estimated correlations between parent
behaviours and child behaviours arise not from an environmental socialization process, but
simply reflect cross-generational genetic transmission of behaviour. In the current study, our
fourth and final aim was to test whether parental negativity and child behavioural problems
are associated not because they are linked through parent–child interaction and relationship
processes, but simply because the parents and children have in common some of the genes that
influence hostile behaviour in both generations. Testing for passive gene–environment
correlation is essential, because behavioural genetic studies indicate moderate to substantial
genetic variance in externalizing and internalizing problems, as well as parental warmth and
negativity (for a review see Reiss, Neiderhiser, Hetherington, & Plomin, 2000).
Quasi-experimental genetic designs are useful for identifying potential passive gene–
environment correlation effects (Plomin et al., 1997). Some research has examined passive
gene–environment correlations between family environment measures and child adjustment
(DeFries, Plomin, & Fulker, 1994; Petrill, Plomin, DeFries, & Hewitt, 2003). However, to our
knowledge only one previous study specifically examined parent–child warmth and negativity
and child-adjustment problems, while testing for passive gene–environment correlation effects
(Neiderhiser et al., 2004). That study employed traditional behavioural genetic family designs
in two samples, one of adolescent twins and non-twin siblings, and another of adult twins and
their adolescent offspring. These are distinct from the design of the current study, in which the
sole focus was on comparison of adoptive and non-adoptive children within the same family.
To test for passive gene–environment correlation, we compared the biological parent–child

dyads (who share 50% of their segregating genes, on average) to the genetically unrelated
adoptive parent–child dyads, with respect to the correlations between parent negativity/warmth
and child externalizing/internalizing problems. If passive gene–environment correlation is
present, then the correlations for genetically related parent–child dyads will be greater than
those for the adoptive dyads. If passive gene–environment correlation is not present, then the
correlations for adoptive and biological parent–child dyads will be the same. It is important to
test for passive gene–environment correlations because evidence for or against such effects
has implications for socialization theories of child maladjustment. If passive gene–environment
correlation is negligible, then associations between parenting behaviours and children’s
behavioural and emotional problems are not arising simply due to parent–child genetic
similarity, and instead probably reflect the effects of social relationship processes within
families. However, if passive gene–environment correlation is present, it means that genetic
transmission of behaviour across generations may explain the correlations between parenting
behaviour and child behaviour, therefore raising questions about the veracity of social
relationship processes as an explanation.
METHOD
Participants
The Northeast–Northwest Collaborative Adoption Project is a national volunteer sample of
adoptive families. The current analysis includes families who had one biological and one
adopted child living together in the home, and for whom we also had complete fathers’ and
mothers’ questionnaire data (N = 85). Nearly all of the parents were married or cohabiting, and
were European American. The parents were highly educated, with about 75% having a 4-year
degree or higher. Fathers’ mean age was 43.30 years (SD = 5.07) and mothers’ mean age was
41.94 (SD = 4.89). Most of the adopted children (84%) were born outside of the United States
(mostly from Asia and Eastern Europe) and adopted in their first year of life. The children’s
ages ranged from 4 to 16-years old with the mean age for the adopted children being 5.59 (SD
= 2.69) and the mean age for the non-adopted children being 8.02 (SD = 3.61).
Procedures
Families were recruited through parent contact letters sent anonymously through private
adoption agencies. Parents returned a postcard of interest to the project office and were
contacted and sent a demographic questionnaire, which included information regarding
household structure, parental education and occupation, marital status, and details regarding
all of the children (i.e. adopted, biological, step-child, international or domestic adoption,
country of origin, ethnicity, birth date, adoption date). Parents provided informed consent at
this time. Those who returned the questionnaire were enrolled in the study. Parents then
completed the survey materials through the mail or by using the Internet.
Measures
Parental positivity and negativity—Mothers and fathers reported on their feelings
separately for the two children in the study, using the Parent Feelings Questionnaire or PFQ
(Deater-Deckard, 2000), a 31-item questionnaire that assesses parents’ perceptions about their
relationship with each child. It includes statements about feelings of negativity and positivity
towards a specific child in the family (e.g. sometimes I am not happy about my relationship
with this child; when I think about this child, it usually gives me warm feelings) that are rated
on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = definitely untrue, 5 = definitely true). There also is a list of
negative (sad, angry, hostile, frustrated, furious) and positive (happy, excited, joyful, proud,
amused) emotions that parents report experiencing when they think about or are with that
particular child, rated on a 10-point frequency scale (1 = never, 10 = all the time). These items
are standardized and averaged to yield a negativity score and a positivity score (warmth α =
0.84 and negativity α = 0.90). These scales were shown to be valid indicators compared to
other informants’ reports of parenting in a pilot validation study (Deater-Deckard, 2000).
Child behavioural and emotional problems—For each child, mothers and fathers
completed the Child Behavior Checklist or CBCL (Achenbach, 1991), a widely used and
validated instrument that includes items rated on a 3-point scale with higher scores indicating
more problems (0 = not true in the past six months, 1 = somewhat or sometimes true, 2 = very
true or often true). We used the Externalizing syndrome score (the sum of the Delinquent and
Aggressive subscales) and the Internalizing syndrome score (the sum of Withdrawn, Somatic
Complaints, and Anxious/Depressed subscales). CBCL alphas for fathers’ and mothers’
externalizing and internalizing scores were α = 0.88 and α = 0.87, respectively. A number of
studies using clinically referred youth as well as large community samples of children have
supported the validity of this instrument and its scales (Achenbach, 1991).
RESULTS
Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. Scores for parental negativity and positivity
were widely and normally distributed, showing only modest kurtosis or skew. Children’s
externalizing and internalizing problems were typical for children of this age. Fathers’ and
mothers’ mean ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems for adopted and non-adopted
children were similar to the means reported for school-age adopted children (externalizing
M = 7.98, SD = 5.75; internalizing M = 5.89, SD = 4.68) and non-adopted children
(externalizing M = 6.40, SD = 4.58; internalizing M = 5.88, SD = 4.67) in the Colorado Adoption
Project (Iervolino, 2003, p. 109). The externalizing and internalizing problem scores in the
current sample also were similar to those reported in a large and diverse community sample of
school-age children (from Kindergarten through 7th grade, externalizing M = 7.1, and
internalizing M = 4.4; Keiley, Bates, Dodge, & Pettit, 2000).
Aims 1 and 2: Parent Gender and Adoptive Status Mean Differences

The first aim was to explore potential gender differences in the average level of fathers’ and
mothers’ self-reported feelings of warmth and hostility towards each of two children in the
family. Our second aim was to investigate adoptive status mean differences in children’s
behavioural and emotional problems. Given the within-family parent and sibling design, we
utilized a 2 × 2 repeated measures ANOVA, with parent gender (mother versus father) and
child adoptive status (adoptive versus biological) as within-subject factors. The results are
presented in Table 2. There was a significant main effect of adoptive status for positivity, F
(1, 84) = 3.99, p<0.05, and negativity, F (1, 84) = 4.96, p<0.05; in contrast, the main effects
for parent gender were non-significant.
Parents reported less positive feelings towards their adopted child (father M = −0.18 and mother
M = −0.11) compared to their non-adopted child (father M = −0.01 and mother M = 0.03). They
also reported more negative feelings towards their adopted child (father M = 0.20 and mother
M = −0.03) than towards their non-adopted child (father M = −0.15 and mother M = −0.14).
However, for parental negativity, the two-way interaction between adoptive status and parent
gender was significant, F (1, 84) = 4.32, p<.05—there was a significant adoptive status mean
difference of about one-third of a standard deviation in fathers’ negativity, whereas for mothers
the adoptive status mean difference was non-significant and only about one-tenth of a standard
deviation.
With respect to child externalizing behaviour problems, there was a significant main effect of
adoptive status, F (1, 84) = 4.46, p<0.05, but the main effect of parent gender was not
significant. Parents reported higher levels of externalizing behaviour for their adopted child
(father M = 8.66 and mother M = 8.38) compared to their non-adopted child (father M = 6.67
and mother M = 6.98). For child internalizing problems, there were no significant effects. In
sum, adoptees were regarded with less positivity and more negativity, and rated as higher in
externalizing problems. However, there were no parent gender differences on average in self-
reported feelings or ratings of child problem behaviours.
The analyses described above and shown in Table 2 did not include any adjustment for multiple
comparisons. It is important to report these unadjusted estimates of the p-values. However,
when we made adjustments using the Bonferonni correction (a very conservative correction)
and the Benjamini–Hochberg correction of false-discovery rate (a comparatively less
conservative correction), none of the effects in Table 2 was statistically significant.
Aim 3: Parent Gender Differences in Correlations

The third aim was to examine the association between parents’ feelings towards their children
and their child’s behaviour, and test for potential parent gender differences. Bivariate
correlations between fathers’ and mothers’ feelings and their adopted and biological child’s
adjustment behaviours were computed and are reported in Table 3. To minimize potential
effects of rater bias, we only examined cross-informant correlations, whereby a given parent’s
self-reported feelings towards a child was examined in relation to the other parent’s perception
of that child’s behavioural and emotional problems. For example, correlations were estimated
between fathers’ self-reported negativity and mothers’ reported child externalizing, and
between mothers’ self-reported negativity and fathers’ ratings of child externalizing.
Overall, the correlations in Table 3 show a clear pattern of significant bivariate associations
between higher levels of child externalizing problems, and less parental positivity or more
parental negativity. Although the same overall pattern was found for correlates of child
internalizing, the correlations were modest and typically not significant.
To test whether the correlations differed for fathers and mothers, we compared correlations
using the Zr-based version of the Pearson–Filon or ZPF test statistic (Raghunathan, Rosenthal,
& Rubin, 1996). These are reported as ‘parent gender ZPF’ in Table 3. Of the eight comparisons
made for parent gender, only one was significant (ZPF = 2.09)—for non-adoptive children,
less parental positivity was associated with more externalizing problems for mothers, but not
for fathers.
Aim 4: Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

The fourth and final aim was to test for potential passive gene–environment correlation effects
that might account for the correlations between parents’ negativity/positivity and children’s
externalizing/internalizing problems. We again estimated ZPF test statistics, reported as
‘adoptive status ZPF’ in Table 3. Of the eight comparisons made, only one was significant
(ZPF = −2.62)—for fathers, less positivity was associated with more externalizing problems
for adopted children, but not non-adopted children. It is worth emphasizing that although
significant, this difference in correlations was not indicative of passive gene–environment

correlation, because the correlation was greater for the adoptive father–child dyads than for
the non-adoptive father–child dyads.
DISCUSSION
In the current study, we addressed several gaps in the literature on the link between parents’
feelings towards their children and their children’s adjustment problems. We examined parent
gender differences, child adoptive status differences, and potential passive gene–environment
correlation effects, using a novel within-family adoptive and non-adoptive parent–child and
sibling design. The results from this exploratory study provide some insights into the family
processes that are reflected in the link between parental feelings of warmth and hostility and
their children’s behavioural and emotional problems. Overall, the results suggest similarities
rather than differences in mean levels and correlations, for fathers versus mothers and adoptive
versus non-adoptive children.
Parent Gender Differences

The results of the current study revealed that fathers and mothers reported similar levels of
positivity and negativity towards their children. This pattern of results for parents’ self-reported
feelings of positivity and negativity towards their children builds on a literature that suggests
fathers and mothers, on average, are more alike than different in their average levels of
negativity and positivity that they feel towards their children (Deater-Deckard, 2004).
Nevertheless, the lack of differences in means does not rule out the possibility that fathers’ and
mothers’ negativity and positivity, as well as their perceptions of their children’s behavioural
problems, is not influenced by factors that are distinct for men and women. For instance, there
is some evidence that children’s cognitive skills and behaviour problems are more strongly
related to fathers’ self-reported parenting, whereas marital discord and their own mental health
status is more strongly related to mothers’ self-reported parenting (Hay, Pawlby, Sharp, &
Schmucker, 1999). We were not able to address this possibility in the current study, but it
remains an important question for future research.
Adoption Status Within Families

In regard to our second aim, we found that adopted children tended to show higher rates of
externalizing problems—a pattern of results that is consistent with previous research
(Iervolino, 2003; Juffer & van Ijzendoorn, 2005; Rhea & Corley, 1994; Sullivan et al., 1995;
Wierzbicki, 1993). In the current study, this effect was small (about one-quarter to one-third
of a SD difference) and no longer significant once we adjusted for multiple comparisons. This
pattern of results is very consistent with the only prior study that we found in which adoptive
and non-adoptive children within the same families were compared (Sharma et al., 1998). Also
in that prior study as well as the current one, a non-significant effect size near 0 was found for
internalizing problems. We would echo Sharma et al.’s conclusion that these effect sizes tend
to be modest, and this should be taken into account when adoptive status is being considered
as a ‘risk factor’ for aggressive and delinquent behaviour problems.
Parents reported higher levels of negativity and lower levels of positivity towards their adoptive
child compared to their non-adoptive child, with effect sizes from one-tenth to one-third of a
standard deviation. This replicates previous research based on between-family comparisons of
adoptive and non-adoptive parents (Braungart, 1994). Thus, parents may regard their adopted
child less favourably than their non-adopted child, although again it is important to note that
the effects were very small and no longer significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons.
Putting aside potential small average differences for adoptive and non-adoptive children, the
negativity and warmth that is expressed towards adoptees, and their levels of externalizing
behaviour problems, probably arise from a combination of psychosocial and biological
influences. Brodzinsky (1993) proposed a social cognitive theory whereby adopted children’s
appraisals of the adoption process are associated with their adjustment following adoption.
Children who view the adoption process or their adoptive status negatively are more likely to
show maladjustment ranging from internalized anger or sadness to externalizing hostility or
aggression. It is also plausible that on average, adopted children have biological parents with
higher levels of psychopathology themselves. This risk can be transmitted genetically and may
be reflected in higher levels of behavioural maladjustment (Cadoret, 1990)—problem
behaviours that elicit more negativity and less positivity in the adoptive parents through
evocative gene–environment correlation effects (O’Connor, Deater-Deckard, Fulker, Rutter,
& Plomin, 1998).
Parents’ Feelings and Child Adjustment: Parent Gender Differences

Turning from mean differences to correlations between parent and child behaviour, our third
aim was to identify potential parent gender differences in the associations between parental
positivity and negativity, and child behaviour problems. To our knowledge, the current study
is the first to compare directly the correlates of mothers’ and fathers’ feelings of negativity and
warmth towards their adoptive and non-adoptive children within the same family. Overall, the
correlations for fathers and mothers were very similar. The average correlation (see Table 3)
for fathers—across negativity/positivity, externalizing/internalizing, and adoptive and non-
adoptive children—was ±0.25, compared to an average correlation for mothers of ±0.24.
More specifically, few of the associations between internalizing problems and parents’ warmth
and negativity were significant. In contrast, nearly all of the correlations between externalizing
behaviours and more parental negativity and less positivity were significant, but these did not
vary as a function of parent gender. This pattern for externalizing problems is consistent with
previous research on non-adoptive families (Deater-Deckard, 2004; Feinberg et al., 2001;
Herman & McHale, 1993). More recently, Richmond and Stocker (2006) reported similar
correlations for fathers and mothers in the association between parents’ feelings of hostility
and their adolescent children’s externalizing problems. However, not all studies find the same
correlations for fathers and mothers (e.g. Brody et al., 1992; Tamrouti-Makkink et al., 2004).
The mixed findings in the literature may be due to a combination of methodological factors,
including sample-specific effects, distinct measures and designs, and low statistical power.
Despite these sometimes conflicting findings, it is clear that when father–mother differences
in correlations are found, the magnitude of the effect is small. Thus, on balance the findings
suggest that the underlying processes linking parental warmth and hostility with child
externalizing behavioural problems (and perhaps internalizing problems) are more similar than
they are different for father–child and mother–child relationships.
Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

Our fourth and final aim was to use a novel within-family adoptive status design to test whether
there was passive gene–environment correlation in the link between parental positivity/
negativity and child externalizing/internalizing problems. Although rarely studied, there is
some evidence in previous research that passive gene–environment correlation may explain
some of the covariation between parenting and children’s adjustment (Neiderhiser et al.,
2004). In the current study, there was no such effect. The average correlation (see Table 3)
between parental self-reported feelings and child behavioural/emotional problems was very
similar for adopted (±0.24) and non-adopted (±0.25) children. The correlation between fathers’
self-reported positivity and mother-rated child externalizing was the only one that differed
significantly for adoptive (r = −0.38, p<0.001) and non-adoptive (r = 0.01, n.s.) children—a
pattern that is contrary to a passive gene–environment correlation effect, which requires that
the association between parent and child behaviour be present for non-adoptive but not adoptive
parent–child dyads.
In the current study, the within-family comparison of adoptive and non-adoptive children
showed that the correlation between parental negativity/positivity and child maladjustment is
not simply a by-product of common genes between parent and child. We found the same thing
when we examined maternal harsh discipline practices in which we utilized data from a
different sub-set of families in the current N2CAP study and compared their data to those from
a group of non-adoptive biological families (Deater-Deckard, Ivy, & Petrill, 2006). Although
there is little question that genetic influences are present for parenting behaviours and
children’s externalizing and internalizing problems (Reiss et al., 2000), the moderate
correlations that we found between parents’ negativity/warmth and children’s behaviour
problems do not appear to arise from overlapping genes across generations.
Several developmental theories provide useful explanations for these kinds of effects. Rohner’s
(1986) acceptance/rejection theory emphasizes that parental acceptance is manifested
physically and verbally through hugging and praising, while rejection is manifested as the
absence of significant withdrawal of warmth. In the current analysis, negativity is associated

with more internalizing and externalizing behaviours in children, reflecting in part children’s
reactions to their parents’ behaviour towards them. Children’s and parents’ behaviours are
likely influenced through learning processes operating as reinforcement contingencies that are
causally linked to the development of childhood externalizing problems (Patterson, 2002).
However, the child’s behaviour also may be influencing parents’ feelings of negativity and
positivity given that child effects have been demonstrated in quasi-experimental behavioural
genetic studies (O’Connor et al., 1998; O’Connor et al., 2006).
Caveats and Conclusions

Several limitations of the current study should be considered. First, sample size limited
statistical power for detecting small effects, but sufficient power was present to test moderate
effect sizes. A more important limitation of the sample is that it probably is not representative,
so the results may not generalize to the broader population of adoptive and non-adoptive
families. The results may be specific to families that have a biological child and choose to
adopt—little is known about the varied reasons for adoption of the parents in the current study,
yet those reasons may matter with respect to family processes. For example, results pertaining
to adoptees might differ depending on whether the adoption is motivated by parents’ medical
difficulties (e.g. infertility) or by a desire to give a home to a child in need. Finally, although
we strived to minimize the effects of rater biases by only estimating correlations across
informants, reliance on parents’ reports is a limitation; the results might not generalize to other
informants’ reports (e.g. teachers, observers) or to child behaviour outside of the home context.
In conclusion, a within-family sibling design was used to compare adoptive and biological
children on parenting and behavioural adjustment measures. Regardless of whether tests were
adjusted for multiple comparisons, there were no noteworthy (in terms of magnitude of effect
size) parent gender differences in means or correlations, suggesting that the developmental
processes linking parental negativity and warmth, and child externalizing problems, probably
involve the same mechanisms for mothers and fathers. Although there was some evidence
pointing to child adoptive status mean differences in parents’ ratings of more negativity, less
positivity, and more externalizing behaviour, none of these remained significant after
controlling for multiple comparisons, and all of the effect sizes were small. Furthermore,
correlations between parental feelings and child behavioural problems were consistent for
adoptive and non-adoptive children, suggesting that there was very little passive gene–
environment correlation present. This does not mean that other forms of gene–environment
correlation effects are not present—for example, ‘evocative’ gene–environment correlation

influences, whereby genetically influenced child behaviours causally influence parental
negativity and positivity. Examination of these other kinds of gene–environment processes
requires integrating quasi-experimental genetic studies with experimental family interaction
designs—a worthwhile goal in future research examining parenting of fathers and mothers and
their children’s developmental outcomes.
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Table 1
Descriptive statistics for fathers’ and mothers’ ratings of adoptive and non-adoptive children
Adopted child Range Non-adoptive child Range
Mean (SD) Mean (SD)
Father Positivity z-score −0.18 (1.12) −3.91 to 1.51 −0.01 (0.78) −2.47 to 1.67
Mother Positivity z-score −0.11 (1.03) −3.75 to 1.26 0.03 (0.81) −3.42 to 1.53
Father Negativity z-score 0.20 (1.07) −1.47 to 3.03 −0.14 (0.84) −1.73 to 2.68
Mother Negativity z-score −0.03 (0.97) −1.76 to 2.82 −0.14 (0.91) −1.87 to 2.74
Father Internalizing 5.88 (4.97) 0–25 5.40 (4.95) 0–20
Mother Internalizing 6.21 (5.49) 0–25 6.57 (5.48) 0–26
Father Externalizing 8.66 (6.91) 0–33 6.67 (4.67) 0–27
Mother Externalizing 8.38 (6.17) 0–39 6.98 (5.07) 0–25
Table 2
Repeated measures analysis of variance for parental positivity and negativity and child externalizing and
internalizing behaviour (N = 85)
df MS F pa
Positivity
Adoptive status (S) 1 2.15 3.96 0.05
Parent gender (G) 1 0.27 0.47 0.50
S×G 1 0.31 0.06 0.81
Negativity
Parent gender (G) 1 1.23 2.53 0.12
S×G 1 1.09 4.32 0.04
Externalizing
Parent gender (G) 1 0.03 0.00 0.97
S×G 1 23.99 1.03 0.31
Internalizing

Parent gender (G) 1 47.90 1.81 0.18
S×G 1 17.77 2.28 0.14
a
p-values are not adjusted for multiple comparisons.
NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript
Table 3
Bivariate correlations between parental negativity/positivity and child externalizing/internalizing problems: Zr-based version of the Pearson–Filon (ZPF)
test of differences in correlations
Glover et al.
Externalizing Internalizing
Adopted Non-adoptive Adoptive status ZPF Adopted Non-adoptive Adoptive status ZPF
Father Negativity 0.47*** 0.44*** 0.24 0.14 0.21+ −0.49
Mother Negativity 0.32** 0.33** −0.07 0.16 0.26* −0.77
Parent Gender ZPF 1.33 0.95 −0.08 −0.37

Father Positivity −0.38*** 0.01 −2.62** −0.16 −0.21+ 0.36
Mother Positivity −0.29** −0.28** −0.07 0.01 −0.26* 1.94+

Parent Gender ZPF −0.74 2.09* −1.26 0.36
Note: Two-tailed p-values,

+
<0.10,
*
<0.05,
**
<0.01,
***
<0.001;
cross-informant ratings were used for externalizing/internalizing behaviours.
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Infant Child Dev. 2010 May 1; 19(3): 238–251.

Parents’ Feelings Towards Their Adoptive and Non-Adoptive

Marshaun B. Glovera,*, Paula Y. Mullineauxa, Kirby Deater-Deckarda, and Stephen A.

b Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

PARENTS’ FEELINGS TOWARDS THEIR ADOPTIVE AND BIOLOGICAL

Father and Mother Negativity and Positivity

Similar or Different Relationship Processes?

Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

Passive gene–environment correlation can be present in data in which genetically related

To test for passive gene–environment correlation, we compared the biological parent–child

internalizing M = 4.4; Keiley, Bates, Dodge, & Pettit, 2000).

Aims 1 and 2: Parent Gender and Adoptive Status Mean Differences

Aim 3: Parent Gender Differences in Correlations

internalizing, the correlations were modest and typically not significant.

Aim 4: Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

significant, this difference in correlations was not indicative of passive gene–environment

Parent Gender Differences

Adoption Status Within Families

Parents’ Feelings and Child Adjustment: Parent Gender Differences

Passive Gene–Environment Correlation

absence of significant withdrawal of warmth. In the current analysis, negativity is associated

Caveats and Conclusions

correlation effects are not present—for example, ‘evocative’ gene–environment correlation

Brodzinsky DM. Long-term outcomes of adoption. The Future of Children 1993;3:153–166.

Wierzbicki M. Psychological adjustment of adoptees: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Child

Adopted child Range Non-adoptive child Range

Mean (SD) Mean (SD)

internalizing behaviour (N = 85)

Adoptive status (S) 1 0.30 0.01 0.92

Father Negativity 0.47*** 0.44*** 0.24 0.14 0.21+ −0.49

Mother Negativity 0.32** 0.33** −0.07 0.16 0.26* −0.77

Parent Gender ZPF 1.33 0.95 −0.08 −0.37

Mother Positivity −0.29** −0.28** −0.07 0.01 −0.26* 1.94+

Note: Two-tailed p-values,

cross-informant ratings were used for externalizing/internalizing behaviours.

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Father Negativity 0.47* 0.44* 0.24 0.14 0.21+ −0.49

Mother Negativity 0.32 0.33 −0.07 0.16 0.26* −0.77

Mother Positivity −0.29 −0.28 −0.07 0.01 −0.26* 1.94+