PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS OF ADOPTION DISRUPTION ON INSTITUTIONALIZED ADOLESCENTS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

This article aimed to analyze, in the literature, the psychosocial impacts of adoption disruption on institutionalized adolescents, understood as the withdrawal of custody during the pre-adoptive placement or the return of the child after the adoption order. It is an integrative review, with searches in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Periódicos Eletrônicos em Psicologia (PePSIC) and the Journal Portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), in Portuguese and English, from 2018 to 2026. Of the 348 records identified, 10 studies made up the final sample, mostly qualitative and Brazilian. The results indicate that disruption in adolescence tends to occur after years of placement, associated with behavioral problems, adoptive parents' difficulties in dealing with the adolescent's history and fragile bonds, with a tendency to hold the adolescent responsible for the failed adoption. Repercussions include self-blame, the experience of a new abandonment and regression, as well as failures in preparing adoptive parents, in post-adoption support and in the transition to adulthood. It is concluded that preventing disruption requires specialized psychological support, including after the adoption order, and listening to the adolescent at every stage of the adoption process.