Romanian orphan studies 🇷🇴

• Who studied the effects of institutionalisation?

  Rutter and Sonuga Barke
• What was the study called?

  ERA (English and Romanian adoptees)
• How many Romanian children were studied?

  • 156
  • 111 adopted before 2 and 54 by 4 years of age
• What was the procedure?

  • Tested at regular intervals- every few years
  • Assessed on physical, cognitive and social development
  • Compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted before the age of six months
• What were the findings of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke's study?

  • Lagged behind British in cognitive and social development
  • Smaller
  • Weighed less
  • Classified as mentally retarded
  • Critical period- sustained deficits are present if children experience institutional care beyond the age of six months
  • long-term consequences less severe if during institutionalisation children have the opportunity to form attachments
• Four main effects of institutionalisation on development?

  Please Don’t Institutionalise Phillipa

  • Physical under functioning- deprivation dwarfism - Gardner says emotional care not poor nourishment causes this
  • Disinhibited attachment- don’t discriminate against people they choose as attachment figures and people who don’t- act inappropriately towards strangers
  • Intellectual under-functioning- cognition affected
  • Poor parenting- Harlow studies this- research shows institutionalised women find it hard to act as parents (Quinton et al)
• what were the aims of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke's study?

  • to investigate the effects of institutionalisation on later childhood development
  • institutionalisation- effects of institutionalised care, which may be irreversible
• evaluation of Romanian orphan studies?

  • ☹️individual differences- some kids aren't as strongly affected as others- some kids might receive more care within institution
  • 😊longitudinal study- follow the lives of children over many years- show how effects are produced over time and effects may disappear with high quality care and enough time
  • 😊real-life application- improving the lives of kids in care- more babies are adopted within the first week of birth, adopted children can be equally as securely attached as normal families
  • 😊research support for disinhibited attachment- Zeanah et al- 136 Romanian orphans, 90% of their lives in institution, compared to control group of Romanian kids, assessed in SS. Institutionalised kids showed disinhibited attachment