Self-reported and parent reported problems in adolescent international adoptees

Self-reported and parent reported problem behaviors of 1,538 intercountry adopted adolescents aged 14-18 years were compared with those from general population samples; 22% of the adopted boys, and 18% of the adopted girls could be regarded deviant according to self-reports, compared with about 10% of the subjects from the general population. Parents' reports showed a slightly greater difference between adopted versus nonadopted boys. Childhood deprivation was weakly associated with later parent reported, but not with self-reported problems. Racial antagonism was not related to problem behaviors. Adolescence may constitute a period of increased vulnerability for adopted children.