Hereditary influences in relation to the problem of child adoption.
(25/279)
There is little exact information on the hereditary influences which are of greatest interest from the social and educational points of view. Many genes are involved in the origins of socially significant traits and there are usually many steps in the causal chain linking gene to trait. The value of genetical judgements is thus limited; they cannot be substituted for facts ascertained about the physical and mental state of the child itself at the time of adoption. Information on the family occurrence of recessive autosomal or sex-linked traits may be used for predicting the likelihood of the onset of diseases later on in life. The knowledge that a rare dominant abnormality is present in a close relative is especially important if the close relative is the subject's own parent. But most genetical problems in adoption cases concern graded characters, and here prediction can only be very tentative. A definite degree of likeness obtains within families for graded characters, but the genetical divergence may be considerable, and it can be accentuated by environment. (+info)
Pre-placement screening in international adoption.
(26/279)
BACKGROUND: The number of child adoptions from abroad is increasing, but the adverse living conditions of these children prior to the adoption raise questions on their medical and neurodevelopmental status, particularly since there are no guidelines for pre- or post-adoption medical evaluation. OBJECTIVES: To describe the condition of a cohort of young children who were candidates for adoption in East European orphanages and foster homes, and to determine those attributes associated with a family's decision to adopt or refuse a particular child. METHODS: Eighty-two young children, median age 11 months, were evaluated by Israeli pediatricians in Eastern Europe between 3 weeks and 6 months prior to their adoption. The evaluation consisted of comprehensive medical and neurodevelopmental testing on site using a battery of standardized assessment tools, and observation of free play and social interactive behaviors recorded on videotape. Laboratory tests included complete blood count, chemistries, serology screening, and metabolic and genetic testing. RESULTS: The children were growth-retarded. Medical problems were classified as resolved (pneumonia and diarrhea) in 32.8%; or ongoing, such as hepatitis B and C, failure to thrive, organomegaly, and visual and hearing disorders, in 14.8%. Neuromotor status was grossly abnormal in 13.4%. Twenty-two percent of the children were rejected for adoption by families in Israel. Factors associated with the adoption decision were performance skills on developmental testing (P = 0.0001), present medical status (P = 0.002), and weight (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-placement comprehensive screening of children eligible for foreign adoption, which includes developmental screening, helps to identify a wide variety of strengths and impairments in a child's background before the adoption procedure is finalized. A family's decision to adopt or not was associated with the child's performance on Bayley Scales, weight, and current medical status, but not with language delays, serious past medical history or suspect family background. (+info)
Genotype-environment interaction in schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. Long-term follow-up study of Finnish adoptees.
(27/279)
BACKGROUND: Earlier adoption studies have convincingly confirmed the importance of a genetic contribution to schizophrenia. The designs, however, did not incorporate observations of the rearing-family environment. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that genetic factors moderate susceptibility to environmentally mediated risks associated with rearing-family functioning. METHOD: A Finnish national sample of adopted-away offspring of mothers with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders was compared blindly with adoptees without this genetic risk. Adoptive rearing was assessed using family rating scales based upon extended family observations at initial assessment. Adoptees were independently re-diagnosed after a median interval of 12 years, with register follow-up after 21 years. RESULTS: In adoptees at high genetic risk of schizophrenia, but not in those at low genetic risk, adoptive-family ratings were a significant predictor of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in adoptees at long-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Adoptees at high genetic risk are significantly more sensitive to adverse v. 'healthy' rearing patterns in adoptive families than are adoptees at low genetic risk. (+info)
Avoidable mortality among child welfare recipients and intercountry adoptees: a national cohort study.
(28/279)
OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of avoidable mortality in adolescence in child welfare recipients and intercountry adoptees with the general population. DESIGN: A register study of the entire national cohort of 989 871 Swedish residents born 1973-82 in the national census of 1990. Multivariate Cox analyses of proportional hazards were used to analyse avoidable deaths between 13 to 27 years of age during 1991-2000. PARTICIPANTS: 12 240 intercountry adoptees, 6437 foster children, 15 868 subjected to other forms of child welfare interventions, and the remaining 955 326 children in the cohort. RESULTS: Intercountry adoptees had a high sex and age adjusted relative risk (RR) for suicide death only (RR 3.5; 95% CI 2.3 to 5.0) in comparison with the general population, while foster children and adolescents who had received other kinds of child welfare interventions had high sex and age adjusted RRs for suicide death; 4.3 (2.8 to 6.6) and 2.7 (1.9 to 3.9) respectively, as well as for other avoidable deaths; RRs 2.5 (1.6 to 3.7) and 2.8 (2.1 to 3.6). The RRs of avoidable deaths for foster children and other child welfare recipients decreased considerably when compared with youth brought up in homes with similar psychosocial characteristics as their original home. CONCLUSION: Children in substitute care in early childhood were at particular risk for suicide death in adolescence and young adulthood. Child welfare interventions were insufficient to prevent excess deaths in children at risk. (+info)
Update: measles among adoptees from China--April 14, 2004.
(29/279)
As of April 14, 2004, investigators had identified six confirmed and three suspected cases of measles among the 12 adoptees from China who departed for the United States on March 26. Three other children remain under observation by public health authorities. The latest confirmed cases of measles were in an adoptee aged 13 months who traveled to New York state and in an adoptee aged 12 months who traveled to Washington state. (+info)
Multistate investigation of measles among adoptees from China--April 9, 2004.
(30/279)
On April 6, 2004, Public Health--Seattle and King County, Washington, reported a laboratory-confirmed case of measles in a recently adopted child from China. Public health authorities in Washington state notified CDC, which collaborated with health officials in other states to locate other recently adopted children from China and contact their adoptive families. This report summarizes the preliminary results of an ongoing multistate investigation that has so far identified four confirmed and five suspected cases of measles among adoptees from China, underscoring the need for health-care providers to remain vigilant for measles and other vaccine-preventable communicable diseases in children adopted from international regions. (+info)
Maternal behavior regulates benzodiazepine/GABAA receptor subunit expression in brain regions associated with fear in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice.
(31/279)
Inbred strains of mice, such as BALB/cByJ and C57BL/6ByJ, have been used repeatedly to study genotype-phenotype relations. These strains differ on behavioral measures of fear. In novel environments, for example, BALB/c mice are substantially more neophobic than C57BL/6 animals. The benzodiazepine (BZ)/GABAA receptor system has been proposed as a regulator of behavioral responses to stress, and BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice differ in BZ/GABAA receptor binding. In the present study, we found increased BZ receptor levels in C57BL/6 mice in the central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala as well as the locus coeruleus using either flunitrazepam (nonselective) or zolpidem (alpha1 subtype selective) as radioligands. Differences in receptor binding were most pronounced in the amygdala and locus coeruleus using [3H]zolpidem. C57BL/6 mice showed increased alpha1 mRNA levels in the locus coeuruleus compared to BALB/c mice. In addition, gamma2 mRNA expression in BALB/c mice was decreased in the central nucleus of the amygdala to levels that were 2-2.5-fold lower than those of C57BL/6 mice. The results of an adoption study revealed that the biological offspring of C57BL/6 mothers fostered after birth to BALB/c dams showed decreased levels of gamma2 mRNA expression in the central nucleus of the amygdala in comparison to peers fostered to other C57BL/6 mothers (the reverse was found for the biological offspring of BALB/c mothers). In a step-down exploration paradigm, BALB/cByJ mice crossfostered onto a C57BL/6ByJ dam expressed reduced anxiety responses. However, among C57BL/6ByJ mice, the relatively low levels of anxiety ordinarily evident were not increased when mice of this strain were reared by a BALB/cByJ dam. These preliminary findings suggest that the strain differences in the BZ/GABAA receptor system occur, at least in part, as a function of parental care. Such findings may reflect a mammalian example of an indirect genetic effect mediated by maternal care. (+info)
Update: Multistate investigation of measles among adoptees from China--April 16, 2004.
(32/279)
CDC recently published information about six confirmed and three suspected cases of measles among children who were adopted in China. Preliminary investigation into the source of measles exposure among the recent U.S. adoptees has traced the presumed source of the outbreak to an orphanage in China where an outbreak of measles has been reported. While control measures are being implemented, CDC recommends that adoption proceedings of children from the affected orphanage be suspended temporarily. (+info)