AO1 - Romanian orphan studies

• Rutter (2007) aimed to investigate the extent to which good, quality care could make up for poor early experiences in an institution and its long term effects.
• Romanian children adopted after they were 6 months old showed signs of disinhibited attachment.
• Romanian children adopted before they were 6 months old showed less signs of disinhibited attachment.
• Rutter (2007) followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted to the UK from institutions in a longitudinal study.
• Comparisons were made with a sample of 52 non institutionalised UK children adopted before the age of 6 months.
• The likely effects of institutionalisation

  • Disinhibited attachment
  • Mental retardation
  • Deprivation dwarfism
• Disinhibited attachment is a form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figure
• Rutter (2006) explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation
• Developmental retardation is when people have delayed development and have a lower IQ than the average person.