The problem of adopted kids who have damaged attachment mechanisms hit the mainstream press today with this article in USA Today. An expert that reporter Steve Freiss talked to says up to 80 percent of such kids may have problems.
"We say there are three groups of children: about 20% whom we call the 'resilient rascals' because they come over and thrive right away, about 60% who we call 'wounded warriors' because they have serious problems but they get better after the first year or so, and another 20% who are challenged children who may require lifelong help," says [Victor Groza, a social work professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland].
While this article focuses on kids who come from Russian orphanages, what I've heard anecdotally is that this problem isn't limited to Russia or Eastern Europe; any child who has to spend time in an institution before finding a home may suffer.
