The study of families (N=42) who had adopted or were long-term fostering mentally retarded children found very positive outcomes for most families in contrast to results from other studies with mentally retarded birth children. (Author/DB)

A study reviewed 60 research articles on family adjustment published over a 20-year period to determine whether research reflected less negative and/or more positive conceptions of families rearing children with developmental disabilities. Results indicate that although negativity declined from the 1970s to 1983, there was no concurrent increase…

A study of 18 families who adopted children with developmental disabilities found that nearly 12 years after their adoptions, families reported generally positive outcomes and good adjustment to their adopted children. Changes in the families were perceived as potential sources of reward as well as sources of stress. (Contains references.)…

A survey of families who had adopted mentally retarded children approximately 5 years earlier found good family adjustment, with only 2 of 44 children not living with their adoptive/foster parents for reasons related to adjustment difficulties. The families had adopted or were fostering 12 additional children, 11 with handicapping conditions.…

This study examined whether raising a child with Down's syndrome affects a family (n=34) differently than does raising a child with another developmental disability (n=74). Results found that long-term adjustment to raising children with other disabilities was comparable to that of raising children with Down's syndrome. (CR)