Harold Grotevant's research focuses on relationships in adoptive families, and on adjustment and identity development in adolescents and young adults. His work has resulted in over 100 articles published in professional journals as well as several books, including Openness in Adoption: Exploring Family Connections (with Ruth McRoy, Sage Publications, 1998). 

He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the National Council on Family Relations. He directs the Minnesota / Texas Adoption Research Project, which focuses on relationships in adoptive families and contact between adoptive and birth family members. Dr. Grotevant is the Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Psychology and oversees the Rudd Adoption Research Program, which is affiliated with the multidisciplinary Center for Research on Families. During his time as a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Grotevant will develop a grant proposal for the project entitled, “Adjustment and relationships: Young adult outcomes of adoption.” The study will explore the long-term impacts of adoption by examining the trajectories of adjustment, emotional health, relationship well-being, and family formation of young adults who were adopted as children compared with trajectories of non-adopted young adults. New understanding of these long-term outcomes will be important for professionals placing children for adoption, providers of post-adoption services, and policy makers concerned with determining the best interests of children.