Bicultural Identity Integration e benessere di adolescenti e giovani adulti in adozione internazionale

[Autom. eng. transl.] Ethnic belonging is considered as one of the relevant dimensions that come into play in the processes of identity formation and has been studied through different theoretical approaches. In particular, a recent line of studies, through the construct of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII, Haritatos and Benet-Martinez, 2002), analyzed how migrants manage to organize at the identity level the cultural references they carry: that of birth and that of the host culture. However, there is a lack of research focused on how adoptees are able to cope with this integration process, made even more complex by not sharing ethnicity with the adoptive family. Some research (Basow et al., 2008) shows that the development of ethnic identity influences the psychological well-being of the adopted, but this has not been investigated, as far as we know, in the Italian context. The present work, which sought to fill this gap, has a twofold objective: to verify whether and to what extent ethnic identity and Italian identification are linked to the psychosocial well-being of the adopted through the mediation of Bicultural Identity Integration levels and investigate the influence of some family variables on identity processes and well-being. A 172 self-report questionnaire was included to 172 adolescents and young adults in international adoption (15 - 25 years) and their respective parents, including some scales that measure ethnic identity, Italian identification, and BII levels. , individual well-being and some family variables. The results showed that family relationships and the degree of BII are protective factors for the psychosocial well-being of the adopted. Furthermore, parents play a fundamental role in supporting the process of integration at the identity level through cultural socialization strategies.