Jesús Palacios

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• Professor
• Professor at University of Seville

Adoptees, a group of children consistently shown to be at higher risk of psychosocial difficulties, face particular challenges during adolescence. However, few studies address the well-being of adopted adolescents, and cross-cultural comparisons are rarely reported. The present study assessed the life satisfaction of internationally adopted and non...

Background Most internationally adopted individuals have been exposed to an array of developmental risk factors, including early institutionalization and other adverse experiences. Adopted children from Eastern Europe tend to show worse neurodevelopmental outcomes than adopted individuals from other areas of origin. Previous studies have shown a hi...

Emotion understanding (EU) is a socio-cognitive skill that enables us to understand the expression of emotions in ourselves and others. Exposure to early adversity hinders its development, since quality social interactions are essential for its growth. Language is a critical component of EU, and therefore, it may be a mediator between early adversi...

In this study, we examined identification and interest with birth country, perceived discrimination, and related issues through self-report in 69 adolescents adopted from Russia to Spain. The adolescents showed a high degree of interest in their birth country, and most of them considered that their birth country is a part of their identity. There w...

Background: Internationally adopted children who suffered early institutionalization are at risk of a late onset of internalizing problems in adolescence. Both pre-adoption, adversity-related, and post-adoption factors predict variability in internalizing problems in this population. Previous studies have suggested different patterns of parent- ado...

Background Little is known about bullying experienced by internationally adopted teens residing in Europe. Objectives Within the framework of an international research effort involving several European countries, the main goal of this study was to explore the experiences of bullying victimization suffered by adopted adolescents, as well as its imp...

A revision of the rich synergistic exchange between adoption practice, the law, and developmental science.

This Element overviews recent research on children's adjustment to adoption and its relevance for key questions addressed in developmental science. First, a historical perspective on trends in adoption practice and adoptive family life is offered. Second, research on children's adjustment to adoption is reviewed, including the impact of early adver...

In this book, eminent scholars from varied disciplines detail how developmental science and the law shape one another across the lifespan. The chapters address fundamental questions about how human development influences laws and practices in the legal system and how the law and its practices influence development. The chapters also reveal how the...

In recent years, adoption research has been paying increased attention to the lived experience of adoption, mainly from the adoptees’ perspective. This study considers the adoption experience as lived by the adoptive parents. Also, typically, parent-child influences have been described following the cascade metaphor, with downstream influences from...

Extant literature suggests that adopted children can generate new attachment bonds with adoptive parents, although early adversity leaves an enduring mark. This research was focused on attachment representations when adoptees from Russia were reaching their adolescence. The participants were 29 adoptees and 38 children from a control group, aged be...

Concepts and processes in search for origins in adoption. Developmental perspective and practice considerations.

Introducción: La mayoría de los estudios con niños y niñas en acogimiento familiar se han centrado en las consecuencias negativas de la adversidad en su desarrollo. Sin embargo, se suele encontrar variabilidad en su funcionamiento adaptativo y algunos niños y niñas muestran una buena adaptación a pesar de la adversidad. Dos dimensiones clave de ada...

En el marco del proyecto para la promoción de la parentalidad positiva en el sistema sanitario andaluz conocido como el Proyecto Apego, desarrollado anteriormente en este monográfico, surge una estrategia específica para promover el ejercicio positivo de la parentalidad en padres y madres de bebés prematuros. Una propuesta dirigida a cubrir las nec...

La presente investigación trata de conocer la incidencia y los principales factores de riesgo asociados a las rupturas adoptivas así como realizar algunas propuestas de mejora de cara a la intervención profesional. En el estudio se analizaron los 93 casos de ruptura detectados en Andalucía en la década de 2003-2012. La incidencia acumulada de ruptu...

In molti contesti professionali, compreso quello del Tribunale per i minorenni, si fa riferimento alla teoria dell'attaccamento e alla relativa ricerca, con fraintendimenti ampiamente diffusi che spesso si traducono in applicazioni scorrette. La finalità di questa dichiarazione di consenso è, pertanto, quella di migliorarne la comprensione, contras...

Como ocurre con las demás realidades de la vida y de la ciencia, la Psicología Evolutiva está ella misma sometida a constantes modificaciones, a un proceso evolutivo. Es por ello por lo que sus contenidos, lejos de ser inmutables, sufren las transformaciones derivadas de los nuevos datos empíri- cos que la investigación descubre y de las nuevas ref...

Introduction The extent and nature of SN among international adoptees at adolescence in different receiving countries (RC) has not been completely described, nor have differences between children of Eastern Europe (EE) and non-EE origin been fully assessed. Furthermore, the impact of SN on parent adoption satisfaction has not been systematically as...

La théorie et les recherches sur l’attachement sont utilisées dans de nombreux cadres d’application, y compris dans les tribunaux compétents en matière familiale [1], mais les incompréhensions sont fréquentes et sources d’erreurs lorsqu’il s’agit de les mettre en pratique. L’objectif de cet article de consensus est donc d’accroître la compréhension...

This Open Access book presents unique evidence from the first comprehensive study of the outcomes of open adoption from care in Australia. It contributes to the international debate concerning the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face post adoption contact with birth families.

Adoption provides a unique opportunity to study the simultaneous effect on adoptees’ development of environmental influences related to adoptive parenting, and children’s biology-based characteristics. In this paper, two Hybrid Dyadic Models were tested to study the mediational role of the adoptees’ negative reactivity on the relationship between m...

La teoría y la investigación sobre el apego se utilizan en muchos contextos aplicados, incluidos los juzgados de familia, pero hay malentendidos muy extendidos y que a veces dan lugar a aplicaciones erróneas. El objetivo de este documento de consenso es, por lo tanto, mejorar la comprensión, contrarrestar la desinformación y dirigir el uso de la te...

In a previous study, Palacios et al. (2013) explored the social competence of international adoptees, institutionalized children and a community group of peers during early childhood, mean age 6.5 years. As reported by caregivers and teachers, institutionalized children were found to have lower social skills than children growing up in family conte...

Background Previous Scandinavian studies have shown increased levels of psychiatric morbidity in young refugees and international adoptees with an origin outside Europe. This study investigated their risk of non-affective psychotic disorders (NAPD) and whether this risk is influenced by early childhood adversity, operationalised as age at adoption/...

Background: Although a very heterogeneous group, adopted persons may present developmental and mental health problems of varying severity. Pre-placement adversity and trauma have often been linked to these problems. It has been also suggested that adoption itself is a psychological trauma, predisposing the individual to emotional difficulties. Ob...

Background: A high incidence of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) has been reported for children with experiences of trauma and other forms of adversity. Objective: The present study aims to explore symptoms of RAD and DSED in children in two protection alternatives (international adoption and...

Children in foster care have a high prevalence of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, together with other difficulties in inattentive/hyperactive behaviors, executive and cognitive processes. Early exposure to adversity is a risk factor for developing ADHD via neurodevelopmental pathways. The goal of this research is (a)...

The aim of this study is to analyse the interpersonal relationships in the school context of children living in different care settings (adoptive families, residential care centres, birth families). Participants were 76 children between eight and fourteen years of age (M = 10.78, SD = 1.38), belonging to one of three groups: international adoptees,...

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, e...

Background Non-European international adoptees in Sweden were shown to have a three-to fourfold higher risk of suicidal behaviour in youth during 1986–1995 compared with the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this high risk persists beyond youth and in later cohorts. Methods A register study of Swedish national co...

This study explores the cultural construction of “difficult” temperament in the first 2 years of life, as well as the logistical and thematic continuity across infancy and childhood in what mothers perceive as difficult. It extends earlier work regarding older children in six cultural sites: Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the Un...

Although there is great consensus that family-based alternative care is the most appropriate caregiving environment for young children without parental care, institutions are still widely used in Chile. However, few studies have been conducted with samples of Chilean children in out-of-home care. The first aim of this study was to examine differenc...

Parenting stress is related to the characteristics of both the child and the parents, as well as to parent–child interactions. In adoptive families, parenting stress has been identified as an indicator of the family's adjustment to adoption. The stress experienced by parents of adopted adolescents deserves special consideration, as adolescence is a...

This chapter refers to those cases in which adoption fails to achieve full permanence and the connection between adopters and adoptees becomes unstable, at times ending in permanent breakdown.

Recent years have witnessed increasing attention to early childhood education and care as a foundation for children's successful development in school and beyond. The great majority of children in postindustrial societies now attend preschools or daycare, making this setting a major part of their culturally constructed developmental niches. Althoug...

Background A history of early adversity, including lack of stable, sensitive and supportive caregivers, abuse and institutionalization, has negative influences over cognitive development. However, previous research has shown heterogeneous patterns of impairment in executive processes among children adopted internationally. Method Executive process...

Objective To explore potential postadoption moderators of the link between preadoption experiences and adoptees' social competence. Background In the context of the limited and inconsistent knowledge about adopted children's social competence, our hypotheses concern the interplay between preadoption parental neglect and adoptive parents' emotion s...

In the field of child protection, decision-making is a very complex task involving professionals with distinct qualifications, working in diverse sectors of the system (from social services to the courts) and incidents that vary in the type and seriousness of suspected maltreatment. Decisions made at the various levels of the child protection syste...

Adoption provides stability, loving care, security, and family interactions for children that have been separated from their birth parents. It also entails many challenges and difficulties, especially for adoptees in middle childhood, since feelings of loss can be particularly strong at this developmental stage. Aiming to use empirical evidence to...

Existing over many centuries, adoption has been challenged in recent years by evidence about practices that do not respond to the principles, ethics and laws under which it should be enacted. Written from a multidisciplinary and international perspective, this article outlines the place of adoption in the child protection system, as well as its cor...

This study compares a sample of 223 adopted adolescents with a nonadopted reference group representative of the Spanish adolescent population from the “Spanish Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study.” Variables related to the family context, peers, school context, and emotional well-being are compared. Adoptees are not only analyzed...

Adoption breakdown has attracted an increasing amount of attention over recent years, and studies coincide in stating that the mean age at which this phenomenon occurs is early adolescence. Nevertheless, the specific factors which influence adoption breakdown, have never been empirically explored. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse the...

Objective Our aim was to investigate whether the risk of depression in adulthood in children raised by substitute parents from an early age differ by care arrangements. Methods Register study in Swedish national cohorts born 1972–1981, with three study groups of children raised in adoptive or foster homes with care starting before the age of 2 yea...

In an attempt to go beyond the analysis of children's outcomes in adoption research, the central goal of this study was the analysis of parents' reflective functioning (PRF)—understood as the parents' capacity to reflect upon their own experience as parents, upon their child's experience, and upon the relationships between them— and its connection...

Purpose The two goals of this article are the analysis of the duration of adoptive placements ending in breakdown and the role of age at placement in the breakdown experience. Method All known cases of adoption breakdown during a whole decade in Andalusia, a Spanish region, were studied. Preadoption and formalized adoptions, domestic and intercoun...

Adoption breakdown is not a new phenomenon, and research into adoption breakdown has existed for some decades now. However, in recent years, the existence of adoptive placements ending prematurely due to serious difficulties in the family’s life together has attracted increased attention by researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. In particul...

Purpose A rich and heterogeneous body of knowledge about adoption breakdown has accumulated in recent years. The goal of this article is to review the existing research literature on the topic. Method A comprehensive review of journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports addressing the issue of adoption breakdown was conducted. Results...

Mental representations of attachment are one of the fundamental pillars of emotional functioning. This paper presents the Spanish use of the Story Stem Assessment Profile (SSAP) devised by Hodges et al. (2003) to assess mental representations of attachment in childhood using story stems. Two case studies are used to illustrate the procedure and two...

En este trabajo se analiza la competencia social de menores que vivieron experiencias iniciales de negligencia y maltrato en su familia y que actualmente residen en centros de protección, en comparación con menores que conviven con sus familias biológicas sin experiencia de adversidad previa.

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la competencia social de menores que residen en centros de protección, en base a sus habilidades sociales, problemas de conducta y relaciones con iguales.

The experience of being adopted and the development of an adoption related identity are unique and dependent on both individual and interpersonal variables. The way the adoption story is lived can have an impact on the adoptee's wellbeing and adaptation, both at home and in the school context. The goal of this study is to analyze, from the adoptee'...

Research is consistent in showing that international adoption is an intervention leading to great recovery for adopted children, but there is a need of research on factors associated with recovery. The present study is aimed at: (a) assessing children’s cognitive skills and social-emotional dimensions on their arrival to their new family; (b) evalu...

Background: Acknowledgement/rejection of adoption related differences and communication about adoption are two of the most important features of adoptive family dynamics. The present study focuses on the role played by these two variables on the adoptees’ emotion regulation. Method: The adoptive parents of 70 school-aged children participated in th...

Los procesos de desarrollo que se ponen en juego cuando los niños y niñas adoptados llegan a sus nuevas familias han sido ampliamente estudiados y analizados en la investigación hasta la actualidad. Sin embargo, son pocos los estudios que se han encargado de analizar de manera más concreta y exhaustiva las interacciones que se producen entre padres...

El reconocimiento de emociones es un componente de la comprensión de emociones que se encuentra fuertemente influenciado por las experiencias de interacción social. La adversidad temprana en menores suele estar ligada a déficits en las interacciones interpersonales, lo que puede afectar al desarrollo emocional. En este trabajo se explora el reconoc...

La incorporación de la parentalidad positiva al trabajo con familias ha supuesto la adopción de un enfoque de intervención proactivo y capacitador que sitúa los programas de educación parental en el ámbito de la prevención y promoción como punta de lanza en el apoyo a las familias, para que cumplan adecuadamente las tareas relacionadas con el cuida...

Researchers have emphasize the powerful role the adoption has itself, that is, to become part of a family, so that the adopted children may improve and grown positively. In order to analyse in more detail which family characteristics favour the adopted children positive development, we have studied the relationships between different family dimensi...

Traditionally, research in the context of the adoption has tried to answer two main research questions. The first question is whether adopted children have more problems than non-adopted children and the second is whether adopted children get recover from adversity experienced before being adopted. In the literature on adoption there are evidences...

Researchers have emphasize the powerful role the adoption has itself, that is, to become part of a family, so that the adopted children may improve and grown positively. In order to analyse in more detail which family characteristics favour the adopted children positive development, we have studied the relationships between different family dimensi...

Traditionally, research in the context of the adoption has tried to answer two main research questions. The first question is whether adopted children have more problems than non-adopted children and the second is whether adopted children get recover from adversity experienced before being adopted. In the literature on adoption there are evidences...

Researchers have emphasize the powerful role the adoption has itself, that is, to become part of a family, so that the adopted children may improve and grown positively. In order to analyse in more detail which family characteristics favour the adopted children positive development, we have studied the relationships between different family dimensi...

La celebración de la primera década del Máster en Intervención y Mediación Familiar es una buena oportunidad para analizar la trayectoria del equipo de trabajo que lo puso en marcha y ha estado en el núcleo de su crecimiento y desarrollo. Este artículo analiza el contexto social de cambios en los modelos y necesidades de las familias en que el Mást...

This poster focuses on analyzing the characteristics of the adoptive parents. Specifically, we studied the history of adult attachment and parental stress in adoptive families, and their relation to security in attachment behaviors and behavioral adjustment of children adopted.

Resumen La presente investigación trata de conocer la incidencia y los principales factores de riesgo asociados a las rupturas adoptivas así como realizar algunas propuestas de mejora de cara a la intervención profesional. En el estudio se analizaron los 93 casos de ruptura detectados en Andalucía en la década de 2003-2012. La incidencia acumulada...

As illustrated by the articles in this special issue, the research into ethnic identity in adoption is making significant progress. At the same time, it faces new challenges in the definition of concepts, the use of appropriate methods of study, and the consideration of implications for professional interventions. This commentary offers additional...

Based on a key note address given at the European Society on Family Relations conference in Madrid 2014, this article gives a general overview of some specific challenges adoptive families and adoption researchers face in recent years. Three crises in the area of adoption research are outlined: (1) the steady decline in the number of international...

This work focuses on parental stress in adoptive families with regard to certain key components of family functioning (the family cohesion and adaptability and the parental reflective functioning) as well as in its connection with adopted children’s adjustment. The sample included 98 Spanish parents and children: a group of 40 internationally adopt...

Adoptive and non-adoptive families: same or different in attachment and parental stress.

This poster focuses on analyzing the characteristics of the adoptive parents. Specifically, we studied the history of adult attachment and parental stress in adoptive families, and their relation to security in attachment behaviors and behavioral adjustment of children adopted.

This chapter is about children who were born in Russia and were later adopted by Spanish parents. Based on the authors' research, the characteristics of these children and their developmental status upon arrival, as well as their later development, are described in the main areas of development (physical growth, psychological development, attachmen...