The key role of positive parenting and children's temperament in post-institutionalized children's socio-emotional adjustment after adoption placement. A RCT study

Parenting interventions represent a means for experimentally inquiring socio-emotional change of post-institutionalized children after adoption. We used this approach in a three time point RCT study involving 83 post-institutionalized children (M-age = 33.5 months, SD = 17.1) and their adoptive mothers (M-age = 42.6, SD = 3.9), attending either the Video-Feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting in adoption and foster care or a dummy intervention. Controlling for gender and age at adoption, children showed a significant change in their socio-emotional adjustment in the specific variables inquired-that is, emotional availability-EA, and behavioral problems-after intervention attendance. Mediation and moderated mediation models showed that maternal EA was a main factor affecting children's EA and externalizing behavioral problems, with a key moderating role played by children's temperament; children with high scores on temperamental negative affect benefitted most from their mothers' increase in EA.