DIGEST-V7i3

iv TPC Digest Yanhong Liu, Dan Li, Yanqing Xu T he United States welcomed over 260,000 children across the world from 1999 to 2015. Among these adopted children, approximately 30% came from China, which made it the largest country of origin for intercountry adoption. Numerous issues have been detected related to the intercountry adoption process, among which indiscriminate friendliness (IF) appears to be a prominent one. IF is defined as a behavioral tendency for children to seek attention or approval from adults. It has been identified as a prevalent phenomenon in post-institutionalized children, which is manifested through consistently overfriendly behaviors towards unfamiliar adult figures. This sequential mixed methods study comprised two phases. It consisted of a qualitative case study on four Chinese adoptees’ experiences of IF, followed by a quantitative investigation into IF using a sample of 92 adoptive parents with children from China. The qualitative data were gained from two in-depth, semi-structured interviews with two White mothers with four children adopted from China. Memo writing, documenting researchers’ reflections of interview transcripts, was used as a supplemental data source. The study addressed three research questions—RQ1: How do parents perceive IF in their Chinese adoptees? RQ2: What are some potential factors that are associated with IF? RQ3: Is IF related to child–parent attachment? The overarching goal of the study was to provide an in-depth understanding of adoptees’ IF in its real-life context, to probe into the potential predictors of IF, and to examine the relationship between IF and attachment. In answer to the proposed research questions, the authors discussed five propositions based on the qualitative data: (a) children immediately bonded with adoptive parents soon after adoption; (b) children initiated IF behaviors to newly met adults; (c) children responded to affectionate behaviors from newly met adults; (d) age, institutionalization, and adoptive parents’ love and responsive parenting were potentially associated with children’s IF behaviors; and (e) there was no clear conclusion on whether children’s IF was related to child–parent attachment, which warranted a further examination of the IF-attachment relationship. The quantitative results provided further evidence that corroborated the qualitative findings. Among the investigated potential factors, institutionalization was highlighted as a significant factor, which was supported by another study using the same quantitative dataset. Findings of the study enabled an in-depth understanding of IF, as well as its manifestation under adoptees’ real-life context, and indicated potential factors associated with IF. The study reinforced the stance that children’s IF does not mean atypical attachment; namely, IF and secure attachment may co-exist within a child. Researchers and professional counselors can benefit from the results of this study to better serve international adoptive families and children adopted from China. Yanhong Liu, NCC, is an assistant professor and the School Counseling Program Coordinator at The University of Toledo. Dan Li is a doctoral candidate in counselor education at the University of Iowa. Yanqing Xu is an assistant professor at The University of Toledo. Correspondence may be addressed to Yanhong Liu, 2801 W. Bancroft St., MS 119, Toledo, OH 43606, yanhong.liu@utoledo.edu. Indiscriminate Friendliness in Children Adopted From China to the United States A Mixed Methods Study