This article presents the findings of a study of 46 adults adopted at very young ages in India and now aged between 20 and 30 years. The results suggest that the majority of respondents were physically healthy and well adjusted. However, 40% scored below the norm for social functioning, suggesting some underlying issues associated with poor well-being in their current phase of life. The mental health issues affecting the young people were associated more with anxiety and stress than depression. However, none of the variables investigated proved to be strong predictors of mental health difficulties. The results are discussed in the context of Indian culture and psychosocial development during early adulthood and include implications for practice.
ArnettJJ (2000) Emerging adulthood: a theory of development from the late teens to the early twenties. American Psychologist55(5): 469–480.
2.
ArnettJJ (2004) Emerging Adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties, New York: Oxford University Press.
3.
BaigIAGopinathC (1976) Adoption: the Indian scene. The Indian Journal of Social Work37(2): 135–140.
4.
BakanD (1966) The Duality of Human Existence: Isolation and communication in western man, Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.
5.
BharadwajA (2003) Why adoption is not an option in India: the visibility of infertility, the secrecy of donor insemination and other cultural complexities. Social Sciences and Medicine56: 1867–1880.
6.
BhargavaV (2005) Adoption in India: Policies and experiences, New Delhi/Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
7.
BhugraDMastrogianniA (2004) Globalization and mental disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry184: 10–20.
8.
BornsteinMHCheahC (2006) The place of culture and parenting in the ecological contextual perspective on developmental science. In: RubinKHChungOB (eds) Parenting Beliefs and Parent Child Relations: A cross-cultural perspective, New York: Psychology Press, pp. 3–33.
CederbladMHöökBIrhammarMMerckeA (1999) Mental health in international adoptees as teenagers and young adults: an epidemiological study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry40(8): 1239–1248.
11.
ChoudharyNSharmaN (2012) India. In: ArnettJJ (ed.) Adolescent Psychology around the World, New York: Psychology Press, pp. 103–118.
DasguptaSS (1989) On the Trail of an Uncertain Dream: Indian immigrant experiences in America, New York: AMS.
14.
DemuthCChoudharyNKellerH (2011) Memories of me: comparisons from Osnabrueck (Germany) and Delhi (India) students and their mothers. Integrative Psychological Behaviour45(1): 48–67.
15.
GrozaVRyanS (2002) Pre-adoptive stress and its association with child behavior in domestic special needs and international adoptions. Psychoneurendocrinology27(1): 181–197.
16.
GrozaVKalyanvalaR. BSSK Research Team (2003) Indian families adopting Indian children. Indian Journal of Social Work64(1): 93–113.
17.
GrozaVParkHOkeM (2012) Report of a Study of Adoptees in India Placed Domestically through BSSK, Pune, Cleveland, OH: Case Western Reserve University.
18.
GrozaVKalyanvalaRBoyerSNedelcuC (2003) Indian families adopting Indian children: the adoption process, birth family issues and post-placement services. International Journal of Child & Family Welfare6(1-2): 4–17.
19.
GrozaVParkHOkeMKalyanvalaRShettyM (2014) Adoption and birth family issues: adult adoptees in India placed through BSSK in Pune. Indian Journal of Social Work75(2): 287–300.
20.
HakstianARMcLeanPD (1989) Brief screen for depression. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology1(2): 139–141.
21.
HawkBMcCallRBGroarkCJMuhamedrahimovRJPalmovOINikiforaovaNV (2013) Age at adoption: a measure of time in the orphanage or child-specific factors?Adoption Quarterly15(1): 18–34.
22.
HawkinsMLetcherPSansonASmartDToumbourouJ (2009) Positive development in emerging adulthood. Australian Journal of Psychology61(2): 89–99.
23.
HelwigAWHelwigUM (1980) An Immigrant Success Story: East Indians in America, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
24.
JambunathanSCounselmanK (2002) Parenting attitudes of Asian Indian mothers living in the United States and in India. Early Child Development and Care172(6): 657–662.
25.
KâğıtçıbaşıC (1996) Family and Human Development Across Cultures: A view from the other side, New York: Psychology Press.
26.
KâğıtçıbaşıC (2005) Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context: implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology36(4): 403–422.
27.
KakarS (1978) The Inner Worlds: A psycho-analytic study of childhood and society in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
28.
MartinPStayerMA (1990) The experience of micro- and macro-events: a life span analysis. Research on Aging12(3): 294–310.
29.
Mehta N (2002) An overview of child adoption in India: background, current scenario and future challenges. Paper presented at the Fourth International Conference on Adoption, New Delhi, October.
30.
MeyerEJ (2009) Gender, Bullying and Harassment: Strategies to end sexism and homophobia in schools, New York: Teachers College Press.
31.
PaivaND (2008) South Asian parents’ constructions of praising their children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry13(2): 191–207.
32.
RaoNMcHaleJPPearsonE (2003) Links between socialization goals and child-rearing practices in Chinese and Indian mothers. Infant and Child Development12(5): 475–492.
33.
RoopnarineJLHossainZ (1992) Parent–child interactions in urban Indian families in New Delhi: Are they changing? In: RoopnarineJLCarterDB (eds) Annual Advances in Applied Developmental PsychologyVolume 5. New Jersey, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, pp. 1–17.
34.
SahooSKhessCR (2010) Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among young male adults in India: a dimensional and categorical diagnoses based study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease198(12): 901–904.
35.
SandhuDKaurD (2012) Adolescent problem behaviour in relation to emotional autonomy and parent child relationship. Canadian Social Science8(1): 29–35.
36.
SaraswathiTS (2012) Ecology of adolescence. In: KapurMKootHMLambM (eds) Developmental Psychology and Education, New Delhi: Manek Publications, pp. 188–201.
37.
SaraswathiTSGanapathyH (2002) Indian parents’ ethnotheories as reflections of the Hindu scheme of child and human development. In: KellerHPoortingaYHScholmerichA (eds) Between Culture and Biology: Perspectives on ontogenetic development, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 79–88.
38.
SaraswathiTSOkeM (2013) Ecology of adolescence in India: implications for policy and practice. Psychological Studies58(4): 353–364.
39.
StilesCFdela RosaRDharmaraksaDGoldnerTKalyanvalaR (2001) Families for children: international strategies to build in-country capacity in the Philippines, Thailand, Romania and India. Child Welfare80(5): 645–655.
40.
Turner-BowerDMBartleyBJWareJE (2002) SF-36[R] Health Survey and ‘SF’ Bibliography: Third edition (1988–2000), Lincoln, RI: Quality Metric Inc.
41.
van IJzendoornMHJufferF (2006) The Emanuel Miller memorial lecture 2006: adoption as intervention: meta-analytic evidence for massive catch-up and plasticity in physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry47(12): 1228–1245.
42.
VermaSSharmaDLarsonRW (2002) School stress in India: effects on time and daily emotions. International Journal of Behavioural Development26(6): 500–508.
43.
WakilSPSiddiqueCMWakilFA (1981) Between two cultures: a study of socialization of children of immigrants. Journal of Marriage and the Family43(4): 929–940.
44.
WareJGandekB. the IQOLA Project Group (1994) The SF-36 Health Survey: development and use in mental health research and the IQOLA Project. International Journal of Mental Health23(2): 49–73.
