led from foster home to group home as an infant, thereby never learning trust. These children often have many social problems and are in trouble in school often due to a lack of a strong parental figure. Even though Trust v. Mistrust is a major stage of development, “The greatest psychological risk for adopted children occurs during the middle childhood and adolescent years (McRoy, 1990). As children grow and change into adolescents, they begin to search for an identity by finding anchoring points with which to relate. Unfortunately, adopted children do not have a biological example to which to turn (Horner & Rosenberg, 1991), unless they had an open adoption in which they were able to form a relationship with their biological families as well as their adoptive ones. It is important for adoptive parents to realize however, that an open adoption situation can place more stress on the child when they are determining their actual identity. A child that knows both sets of parents will sense a split loyalty to each family. Because of these situations, it is important for a parent to determine what situation is actually better for the child. However, the absence of a biological bond between the adoptee and the adoptive parent(s) may cause trust issues in the adoptee (Wegar, 1995). Baran (175) stated that, “Late adolescence…is the period of intensified identity concerns and is a time when the feelings about adoption become more intense and questions about the past increase.” Unless the adopted child has the answers to these arising questions, identity formation can be altered and somewhat halted. McRoy (1990) agrees with this point: “Adolescence is a period when young people seek an integrated and stable ego identity. This occurs as they seek to link their current self-perceptions with their ‘self perceptions from earlier periods and with their cultural and biological heritage (Brodsky, 1987).&#...
