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.

Reading time approx. 7 minutes Published: Publication type:

SBU Enquiry Service

Consists of structured literature searches to highlight studies that can address questions received by the SBU Enquiry Service from Swedish healthcare or social service providers. We assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews and when needed also quality and transferability of results in health economic studies. Relevant references are compiled by an SBU staff member, in consultation with an external expert when needed.

Contact SBU
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
Page published
To top