Adoptions and the use of home study’s

Adoption is a long process that can take several years. The first step is to apply for adoption at the municipality's social services. The municipality then performs a home study aimed at assessing whether applicants are suitable to receive an adoptive child.

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SBU Enquiry Service

Responds to queries received from Swedish healthcare and social service providers, or governmental organisations. Queries have a limited scope and the process is designed to enable a more rapid response, typically within two to three months. Reports are based on systematic reviews, that are identified through structured searches and critically appraised for risk of bias.

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Published: Report no: ut202010 Registration no: SBU 2020/89

Question

What scientific studies are there on the use of home studies during the adoption process?

Identified literature

No relevant systematic review was identified but five primary studies were identified [1-5]. The primary studies were not assessed for risk of bias.

References

  1. Crea TM, Barth RP, Chintapalli LK. Home study methods for evaluating prospective resource families: History, current challenges, and promising approaches. Child Welfare 2007;86:141-59.
  2. Crea TM, Barth RP, Chintapalli L, Buchanan RL. Structured home study evaluations: Perceived benefits of safe versus conventional home studies. Adopt Q 2009;12:78-99.
  3. Crea TM, Barth RP, Chintapalli LK, Buchanan RL. The implementation and expansion of SAFE: Frontline responses and the transfer of technology to practice. Child Youth Serv Rev 2009;31:903-10.
  4. Bifulco A, Jacobs C, Bunn A, Thomas G, Irving K. The Attachment Style Interview (ASI). Adopt Foster 2008;32:33-45.
  5. Prochaska JM, Paiva AL, Padula JA, Prochaska JO, Montgomery JE, Hageman L, et al. Assessing emotional readiness for adoption using the transtheoretical model. Child Youth Serv Rev 2005;27:135-52.

Literature search

Psycinfo via ebsco.com 2020-01-23 
Adoptions and the use of home study’s
The search result, usually found at the end of the documentation, forms the list of abstracts.; AB = Abstract; AU = Author; DE = Term from the thesaurus; MM = Major Concept; TI = Title; TX = All Text. Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields; ZC = Methodology Index; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. DE "Adoption (Child)" OR DE "Adopted Children" OR DE "Adoptees" OR DE "International Adoption" OR "Adoptive Parents" 5,787
2. TI Adopt* OR AB Adopt* 90,242
3. (Ti ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (AB ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (KW ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) 1,086,016
4. 1 OR (2 AND 3) 24,632
Intervention:
5. TI ”Home stud*” OR AB ”Home stud*” 316
6. (TI (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 11,184
7. (TI (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 442
8. (TI (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 84
9. (TI (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 19,260
10. (TI (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 1,721
11. TI “Parent potential” OR AB “Parent potential” 8
12. 5 OR 6 OR 7 OR 8 OR 9 OR 10 OR 11 32,104
Final 4 AND 12 828

 

Socindex via ebsco.com 2020-01-23 
Adoptions and the use of home study’s
The search result, usually found at the end of the documentation, forms the list of abstracts.; AB = Abstract; AU = Author; DE = Term from the thesaurus; MM = Major Concept; TI = Title; TX = All Text. Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields; ZC = Methodology Index; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. DE "ADOPTION" OR DE "ADOPTED children" OR DE "ADOPTEES" OR DE "INTERNATIONAL adoption" OR DE "ADOPTIVE parents" OR DE "ADOPTION agencies" 4,403
2. TI Adopt* OR AB Adopt* 53,422
3. (Ti ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (AB ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (KW ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) 431,321
4. 1 OR (2 AND 3) 14,513
Intervention:
5. TI ”Home stud*” OR AB ”Home stud*” 220
6. (TI (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 3,989
7. (TI (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 335
8. (TI (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 25
9. (TI (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 4,031
10. (TI (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 307
11. TI “Parent potential” OR AB “Parent potential” 5
12. 5 OR 6 OR 7 OR 8 OR 9 OR 10 OR 11 8,627
Final 4 AND 12 403

 

Academic search elite via ebsco.com 2020-01-23 
Adoptions and the use of home study’s
The search result, usually found at the end of the documentation, forms the list of abstracts.; AB = Abstract; AU = Author; DE = Term from the thesaurus; MM = Major Concept; TI = Title; TX = All Text. Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields; ZC = Methodology Index; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. DE "ADOPTION" OR DE "ADOPTED children" OR DE "ADOPTEES" OR DE "INTERNATIONAL adoption" OR DE "ADOPTIVE parents" OR DE "ADOPTION agencies" 7,913
2. (TI Adopt* OR AB Adopt*) 388,043
3. (Ti ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (AB ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) OR (KW ( child* OR parent* OR infant* OR famil* OR mother OR father)) 2,370,506
4. 1 OR (2 AND 3) 41,458
Intervention:
5. TI ”Home stud*” OR AB ”Home stud*” 940
6. (TI (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Famil* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 12,257
7. (TI (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Adoption N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 2,216
8. (TI (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Fostering N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 116
9. (TI (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (Parent* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 15,770
10. (TI (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) OR (AB (suitab* N2 (evaluat* OR assess* OR report))) 11,590
11. TI “Parent potential” OR AB “Parent potential” 9
12. 5 OR 6 OR 7 OR 8 OR 9 OR 10 OR 11 42,283
Final 4 AND 12 890

 

Medline via OVID 2020-01-27 
Adoptions and the use of home study’s
The search result, usually found at the end of the documentation, forms the list of abstracts.; AB = Abstract; AU = Author; DE = Term from the thesaurus; MM = Major Concept; TI = Title; TX = All Text. Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields; ZC = Methodology Index; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. exp Adoption/ or exp "Child, Adopted"/ 4,803
2. Adopt*.ti,ab. 237,105
3. (child* or parent* or infant* or famil* or mother or father).ti,ab,kw. 2,804,390
4. 1 OR (2 AND 3) 34,175
Intervention:
5. "Home stud*".ti,ab. 601
6. (Famil* adj2 (evaluat* or assess* or report)).ti,ab. 9,299
7. (Adoption adj2 (evaluat* or assess* or report)).ti,ab. 483
8. (Fostering adj2 (evaluat* or assess* or report)).ti,ab. 35
9. (Parent* adj2 (evaluat* or assess* or report)).ti,ab. 11,626
10. (suitab* adj2 (evaluat* or assess* or report)).ti,ab. 8,278
11. "Parent potential".ti,ab. 1
12. 5 OR 6 OR 7 OR 8 OR 9 OR 10 OR 11 30,109
Final 4 AND 12 426
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