Article
Social skills of adopted Chinese girls at home and in school: Parent and teacher ratings
Children and Youth Services Review
(2011)
Abstract
This study examines adopted Chinese girls' social skills at home and in school as well as the effect of preadoption
adversity on these skills. Parent ratings of 869 girls and teacher ratings of 611 of the 869 girls were
obtained using the Social Skills Rating System for parent (SSRS-P) and teacher (SSRS-T) respectively. The girls
were adopted on average at 15.6 months (SD=13.9) and were in three age groups, including preschool,
elementary school, and secondary school. Data on five indicators of pre-adoption adversity (i.e., signs/
symptoms, delays at adoption, initial refusal/avoidance of adoptive mothers, crying/clinging behaviors, and
age at adoption) were obtained from the same adoptive parents 2 years prior. Findings suggest that both
parents and teachers rated the girls as either similar to or better than US norms on the SSRS. Parent–teacher
agreement on SSRS subscales was significant but modest (rs=0.12–0.25). Two indicators of pre-adoption
adversity (i.e., delays at adoption and initial refusal/avoidance of adoptive mothers) predicted poorer social
skills at home; two other indicators of pre-adoption adversity (i.e., signs/symptoms and age at adoption)
predicted poorer social skills in school.
Keywords
- Social skills,
- Adopted children,
- Parent–teacher agreement,
- Pre-adoption adversity,
- Chinese girls
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
DOI
10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.05.006
Citation Information
Tony Xing Tan and Linda A. Camras. "Social skills of adopted Chinese girls at home and in school: Parent and teacher ratings" Children and Youth Services Review Vol. 33 Iss. 10 (2011) p. 1813 - 1821 ISSN: 0190-7409 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/linda_camras/58/