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My research has focused on the development of
individual differences in intellectual skills, personality
characteristics, social attitudes, and other psychological
variables from early childhood through young adulthood. I have
employed the adoption method to study the effects of
environments and human genetic endowment on development. With
Sandra Scarr, my long-time collaborator, I have followed up 101
transracial adoptive Caucasian families first seen over 30 years
ago, when the adopted (primarily Caucasian, African-American, or
Interracial) children and birth children in the families were,
on the average, 7 and 10-years old respectively. The
longitudinal follow-up study focused on academic and
intellectual achievements and on life adjustment of the
transracial adoptees and their non-adopted siblings during late
adolescence/early adulthood.
Most recently, in collaboration with Irwin
Waldman at Emory University and Manfred van Dulmen at Kent State
University, I have pursued a series of unanswered questions
regarding the psychosocial adjustment of members of the original
participating transracial adoptive families during the
children’s adolescence when new problems might have emerged to
disrupt the families’ adaptations. Highlighting data drawn from
parental interviews, four composite scales were created to
assess school problems, behavior problems, general health, and
delinquency among the 240 children in the 91 adoptive families.
It was found that the majority of children in transracial
adoptive families did not show evidence of poor psychosocial
adjustment as portrayed by the perceptions of their parents in
interviews. However, for almost every indicator, the birth
offspring were the least likely among the groups of children to
be seen as having experienced significant adjustment problems.
In contrast, the adopted children were perceived as more likely
to have experienced poor adjustment. These data suggested that
individual differences, rather than group differences, are more
critical for understanding the adolescent psychosocial
adjustment outcomes of this sample of transracial adoptees and
their non-adopted siblings. The findings are consistent with the
literature demonstrating that adoptees, including adolescents,
are at greater risk than non-adoptees for externalizing behavior
problems including delinquency, general, and school adjustment.
This research has been supported by The National Science
Foundation and a grant from the Graduate School of the
University of Minnesota.
Recent publications
Invited Review of "The Infant and the Family
in the Twenty‑First century." (2004). Journal of the American
Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43:1, 115‑116.
A Body Coming Through the Rye. (2004).
American Psychological Society Observer 17(4), 35.
Children and Sports/Athletics (2005). In
Fisher, C. B. & Lemer, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental
Science An Encyclopedia of Research Policies and Programs
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1048‑1051 (with J. Ostrov).
Peers (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lerner, R.
M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science An Encyclopedia of
Research Policies and Programs Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, 816‑819 (with J. Ostrov).
Intelligence Testing (2005). In Fisher, C.
B. & Lemer, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science An
Encyclopedia of Research Policies and Programs Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 599‑601 (with A. Luckner).
The Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study:
Parent reports of psychosocial adjustment at late adolescence
(2004, approved 2005). Adoption Quarterly, 8(2), 27-44.
(with I. Waldman, M. van Dulmen and J. Scarr).
Recent honors and awards
- University of Minnesota School Psychology Training
Program Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2005.
- Biography (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lerner, R. M.
(Eds.), Applied Developmental Science: An Encyclopedia of
Research, Policies, and Programs, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, 1134-1137.
- President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the
University of Minnesota, 2004.
- Gifted Child Quarterly, Article of the Year, 2002.
- University Distinguished Teaching Professor and member
of Academy of Distinguished Teachers, 1999-.
- Emma M. Birkmaier Professor of Educational Leadership,
1994-97.
Revised April 2006
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