Perceived sense of closeness and belonging for relative versus nonrelative adoptive families

Abstract Objective This study investigated how relationships were perceived by young adults (YA) who were adopted and adoptive parents (AP) and differences by relationship type: (a) relatives versus nonrelatives and (b) grandparents versus other relatives versus nonrelatives. Background Research is lacking on the impact of different relationship types on closeness and belonging from both YA and AP perspectives. Methods Descriptive and bivariate analyses examined differences among distinct relationship types. Logistic regression analyses for YA ( n = 187) and AP ( n = 291) samples examined how relationship types impacted perceived sense of closeness and belonging. Results In both YA and AP samples, grandparents had higher odds of reporting a sense of closeness and belonging in adoption relationship compared with other relatives and nonrelatives. Overall, higher levels of a perceived sense of closeness and belonging were reported for the AP samples than for the YA samples. Conclusion Although kinship adoption generally presents unique advantages over non‐kinship adoption, experiences vary by relationship type. Adoption by more distant relatives may present greater risk than adoption by grandparents. Further, AP may perceive greater closeness and belonging than YA. Implications Different supports may be necessary for adoptive families based on the nature of the relative status between AP and YA. For example, grandparents and distantly related caregivers may have very different service and support needs, and policy makers and service providers should consider the unique strengths and needs of each type of adoptive family.