Adoption has been defined as a “social and discourse-dependent” form of parenthood. Adoptive family members need to be socially recognized as a family and establish their identity through communication on a relational dimension that symbolically incorporates the biological aspect, connects generations, and provides a caregiving context for the child. The social and communicative aspects that revealed the complexity of adoption are a specific focus of this dissertation. It examines the psychological and social factors contributing to the overall well-being of the adoptive family, such as social beliefs and representations about adoption and adoptive families, communication about adoption-related themes in the first year after the child’s adoption, the role of parents’ attachment, reflective functioning and empathy in communication about adoption, and the connection between communication and adopted children’s adjustment. The first chapter illustrates how adoption and adoptive family members are perceived in the Italian context, focusing on how people consider the presence and absence of a biological bond within the family and perceive various parenting attributes if they compare adoptive and birth families. Results highlight the presence, in the Italian context, of an overall tendency to idealize only adoptive parents, a connection between the beliefs about the importance of genetic bonds within the family and worries about parenting’s dimensions and actions, informing about perceptions adoptive parents and adopted children confront in their everyday lives in the Italian context, and highlighting the importance for researchers and clinicians to understand socially shared ideas about adoption, preventing negative behaviors toward adoptive family members. The second chapter focuses on the first twelve months after the child’s arrival into the adoptive family, using follow-up reports to evaluate the beginning of adoption-related communication and whether adopted children share memories and actively ask about their experiences before adoption. Moreover, it explores the adoptive parents’ role in communication during the first year together as a family and the impact of parents’ communications on children’s questions or memories. Results highlight that comparing the first six and twelve months after adoption, adopted children communicate more about their birth families if their adoptive parents talk and discuss this theme with them. The results show a significant relationship between adoptive parents’ willingness to talk about the birth family and children’s inclination to do so, proposing follow-up reports as valuable instruments to collect information. The third chapter focuses on the process of communicative openness in adoptive families in the first and current years. It describes the experiences of adoptive parents and explores the role of some parents’ characteristics, such as attachment, reflective functioning, and empathy, and the connection between adoption-related communication and adopted children’s behavioral and psychological adjustment. The first part of the chapter retrospectively describes several communication-related aspects, such as the most frequently discussed themes, emotions felt by parents and children, parents’ actions, and difficulties, while the second part shows a strong connection between communicative openness and parents’ reflective functioning, avoidant attachment, and emotional and conduct problems of the adopted child. These findings contribute to a deep understanding of the process of communicative openness within adoptive families, shedding light on the relationship between parents and children’s characteristics and the presence of an emotionally attuned and frequent communicative process. Finally, the conclusion of the dissertation connects the results of the three studies and provides valuable insights for research and clinical work with adoptive families.

L’adozione viene definita “genitorialità sociale dipendente dal discorso". I membri della famiglia adottiva devono essere socialmente riconosciuti come famiglia e sviluppano la propria identità familiare attraverso la comunicazione, su una dimensione relazionale che incorpora simbolicamente l'aspetto biologico, connette le generazioni e fornisce un contesto di cura per il bambino. Gli aspetti sociali e comunicativi che rivelano la complessità dell'adozione sono un focus specifico di questa tesi. Essa esamina i fattori psicologici e sociali che contribuiscono al benessere della famiglia adottiva, quali le credenze sociali e le rappresentazioni relative all'adozione e alla famiglia adottiva, la comunicazione su temi legati all'adozione nel primo anno dopo l'adozione del bambino, il ruolo dell'attaccamento, della funzione riflessiva e dell'empatia dei genitori sulla comunicazione e il collegamento tra comunicazione e il benessere dei figli adottivi. Il primo capitolo esamina le rappresentazioni sociali del contesto italiano, concentrando l'attenzione su come le persone considerano la presenza di un legame biologico nella famiglia e percepiscono diversi attributi genitoriali se confrontano famiglie adottive e biologiche. I risultati mettono in evidenza la presenza, nel contesto italiano, di una tendenza complessiva a idealizzare solo i genitori adottivi e una connessione tra le credenze sull'importanza dei legami genetici all'interno della famiglia e le preoccupazioni sulle dimensioni e azioni della genitorialità, sottolineando l'importanza per ricercatori e clinici di comprendere le idee socialmente condivise sull'adozione, prevenendo comportamenti negativi verso i membri della famiglia adottiva. Il secondo capitolo si focalizza sui primi dodici mesi dopo l'arrivo del bambino nella famiglia adottiva, usando i rapporti di follow-up per valutare l'inizio della comunicazione legata all'adozione, se i bambini adottati condividono ricordi e chiedono attivamente delle loro esperienze prima dell'adozione. Inoltre, esplora il ruolo dei genitori adottivi nella comunicazione durante il primo anno e l'impatto delle comunicazioni dei genitori sulle domande o i ricordi dei bambini. I risultati mettono in evidenza che, confrontando i primi sei e dodici mesi dopo l'adozione, i bambini adottati comunicano di più circa le loro famiglie biologiche se i genitori adottivi parlano e discutono di questo tema con loro. I risultati sottolineano una significativa relazione tra la volontà dei genitori adottivi di parlare della famiglia di origine e l'inclinazione dei bambini a farlo, proponendo i rapporti di follow-up come validi strumenti di raccolta informazioni. Il terzo capitolo si focalizza sul processo dell'apertura comunicativa nelle famiglie adottive sia nel primo anno sia al momento attuale. Descrive le esperienze dei genitori adottivi ed esplora il ruolo nella comunicazione di alcune caratteristiche dei genitori, quali attaccamento, funzione riflessiva ed empatia, e la connessione tra la comunicazione aperta e il benessere comportamentale e psicologico dei figli adottivi. La prima parte del capitolo riporta una descrizione retrospettiva di diversi aspetti legati alla comunicazione, come i temi più frequentemente discussi, le emozioni provate dai genitori e dai figli, le azioni dei genitori e le difficoltà, mentre la seconda parte mostra una forte connessione tra l'apertura comunicativa e la funzione riflessiva dei genitori, l'attaccamento evitante, e i problemi emotivi e di condotta del bambino adottato. Tali risultati contribuiscono a una comprensione approfondita dell’apertura comunicativa nelle famiglie adottive, evidenziando la relazione tra le caratteristiche dei genitori e dei figli e la presenza di un processo comunicativo emotivamente intonato e frequente. Infine, la conclusione della presente tesi collega i risultati dei tre studi e fornisce preziose intuizioni per la ricerca e il lavoro clinico con le famiglie adottive.

(2024). Unveiling the Adoption Journey: Social Representations and Communicative Openness in Italian adoptive families. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2024).

Unveiling the Adoption Journey: Social Representations and Communicative Openness in Italian adoptive families

GORLA, LAURA
2024

Abstract

Adoption has been defined as a “social and discourse-dependent” form of parenthood. Adoptive family members need to be socially recognized as a family and establish their identity through communication on a relational dimension that symbolically incorporates the biological aspect, connects generations, and provides a caregiving context for the child. The social and communicative aspects that revealed the complexity of adoption are a specific focus of this dissertation. It examines the psychological and social factors contributing to the overall well-being of the adoptive family, such as social beliefs and representations about adoption and adoptive families, communication about adoption-related themes in the first year after the child’s adoption, the role of parents’ attachment, reflective functioning and empathy in communication about adoption, and the connection between communication and adopted children’s adjustment. The first chapter illustrates how adoption and adoptive family members are perceived in the Italian context, focusing on how people consider the presence and absence of a biological bond within the family and perceive various parenting attributes if they compare adoptive and birth families. Results highlight the presence, in the Italian context, of an overall tendency to idealize only adoptive parents, a connection between the beliefs about the importance of genetic bonds within the family and worries about parenting’s dimensions and actions, informing about perceptions adoptive parents and adopted children confront in their everyday lives in the Italian context, and highlighting the importance for researchers and clinicians to understand socially shared ideas about adoption, preventing negative behaviors toward adoptive family members. The second chapter focuses on the first twelve months after the child’s arrival into the adoptive family, using follow-up reports to evaluate the beginning of adoption-related communication and whether adopted children share memories and actively ask about their experiences before adoption. Moreover, it explores the adoptive parents’ role in communication during the first year together as a family and the impact of parents’ communications on children’s questions or memories. Results highlight that comparing the first six and twelve months after adoption, adopted children communicate more about their birth families if their adoptive parents talk and discuss this theme with them. The results show a significant relationship between adoptive parents’ willingness to talk about the birth family and children’s inclination to do so, proposing follow-up reports as valuable instruments to collect information. The third chapter focuses on the process of communicative openness in adoptive families in the first and current years. It describes the experiences of adoptive parents and explores the role of some parents’ characteristics, such as attachment, reflective functioning, and empathy, and the connection between adoption-related communication and adopted children’s behavioral and psychological adjustment. The first part of the chapter retrospectively describes several communication-related aspects, such as the most frequently discussed themes, emotions felt by parents and children, parents’ actions, and difficulties, while the second part shows a strong connection between communicative openness and parents’ reflective functioning, avoidant attachment, and emotional and conduct problems of the adopted child. These findings contribute to a deep understanding of the process of communicative openness within adoptive families, shedding light on the relationship between parents and children’s characteristics and the presence of an emotionally attuned and frequent communicative process. Finally, the conclusion of the dissertation connects the results of the three studies and provides valuable insights for research and clinical work with adoptive families.
SANTONA, ALESSANDRA MARIA ROBERTA
adozione; comunicazione; rappresentazioni; genitorialità; bambini
adoption; communication; representations; parenthood; children
M-PSI/08 - PSICOLOGIA CLINICA
English
20-mag-2024
36
2022/2023
embargoed_20270520
(2024). Unveiling the Adoption Journey: Social Representations and Communicative Openness in Italian adoptive families. (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2024).
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Descrizione: ⁠Unveiling the Adoption Journey: Social Representations and Communicative Openness in Italian adoptive families
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/477979
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