Depressive Symptoms in Mothers of Recently Adopted Post-Institutionalized Children

To determine whether depressive symptoms are elevated within months of adoption, we compared women who had recently adopted a toddler from an overseas orphanage to women with children of the same age who adopted more than a year before or were raising a child they birthed. The groups did not differ significantly in means or in percentage with elevated symptoms (Session 1,X-2(2) = 2.5, ns; Session 2,X-2(2) = 1.38, ns). The results provided no evidence of elevated symptoms in the firstmonths following adoption for women who adopted internationally relative to other women with toddler-aged children.