International adoption and mental health

Descripton

Since the 2000s, quantitative research has consistently found that Sweden's over 60,000 foreign-born adoptees are severely affected in terms of mental ill-health and social problems and not least suicide attempts and suicides. The over risk for suicide attempts and suicides is almost four times higher compared to the general population and even higher when the adoptees are compared with their siblings who are biological children of the adoptive parents and with non-adopted people who have the same socioeconomic background as themselves. Despite this, the Swedish health care sector has so far been unable to address this severe overrepresentation.

To be able to contribute to research and to a better suicide prevention support, this qualitative and interdisciplinary research project aims to specify and strengthen adoption competence within healthcare and psychiatry. This is being done by examining adoptees’ own experiences of suicidality and the project is the first of its kind to attempt to understand and counteract the increased risk of suicide within the group.

In order to understand the adoptees’ own experiences in relation to healthcare and non-profit organisations, the project is based on three data sources and analyses:

1, A text analysis of texts in a broad sense such as autobiographies and media texts where adoptees are interviewed, which raise questions about suicide

2, An event analysis of healthcare investigations of suicide cases involving adoptees that have been reported to the Swedish Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO)

3, A conversation analysis of recordings of conversations that take place within adoption-competent therapy and at meetings with non-profit organisations.

The text analysis is carried out by Tobias Hübinette, the event analysis is carried out by Mattias Strand at Karolinska Institutet and the conversation analysis is carried out by Clara Iversen at Uppsala University.

If you are interested in knowing more about participating in the project, please contact Clara Iversen, clara.iversen@uu.se

It involves recording therapy and support conversations in contexts where we believe there is a competence to understand adoption-specific experiences. Specifically, it concerns adoption-competent therapy as well as support groups and conversations that take place within the framework of adoptee associations.

What does participating in the project mean?

For you as an adoptee, this means that support conversations that you participate in will be recorded after you have consented to it. We will then analyze the recorded conversations with a focus on recurring patterns. All personal data that appears in the conversations will be anonymized. During the course of the project, we will present and discuss the results together with therapists and others. We will also develop educational resources that are based on the conversations and that can be used within the healthcare sector after the project has ended. Your participation is voluntary, you can choose to cancel it at any time and if you choose to cancel your participation, you do not need to state why you are doing so.

Here you can read more about the project's ethical considerations.