Studies of Adoptees from Psychiatrically Disturbed Biological Parents: Psychiatric Conditions in Childhood and Adolescence

¹ Private Practitioner, Vine Street Clinic, 610 East Vine Street, Springfie1d, Illinois 62703
² Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
³ Social Worker, Barnes and Renard Hospital, Washington University, 4940 Audubon Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110
⁴ Clinical Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Psychiatric problems were assessed in two groups of adoptees by interviewing the adopting parents. One group of 59 adoptees, the `experimental', were born of psychiatrically disturbed biological parents; the other group, the `control' of 54 adoptees, had psychiatrically `normal' biological parents. Both groups had been separated from biological parents at birth.

The incidence of psychiatric conditions requiring professional care was significantly higher in the experimentals than in the controls (37 per cent vs. 14 per cent). In the experimental group more males than females were disturbed (59 per cent vs. 30 per cent). Most of the excess of disordered males were diagnosed hyperactive. There was some evidence of correlation of the type of psychiatric diagnosis of the biological parent with that of the adoptee.