institutionalisation effects: romanian orphans

• rutter et al. (2011) english + romanian adoptee study (ERA)

  procedure:

  • researchers followed a group of 165 romaninan orphans who experienced poor conditions before being adopted in the UK
  • the longitudinal study tested the extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years
  • study also followed a control group of 52 adopted children from the UK
• findings

  • half the orphans showed delayed intellectual development when in the UK. at age 11, recovery rates were related to their age at adoption:
  • adopted before 6 months = IQ of 102
  • after 2 years = mean IQ of 77
  • these differences continued to be apparent at 16
• findings and conclusions

  • frequency of disinhibited attachment related to the adoption age
  • apparent in those adopted after 6 months: clinginess, attention seeking + indiscriminate affection to strangers
  • rare in children adopted before 6 months
  • findings support Bowlby's view that there's sensitive period in the development of attachments - failure to form an attachment before 6 months (+ after 2 years) appears to have long lasting effects
• Zeanan et al (2005) Bucharest early intervention project (BEI)

  procedure:

  • used SS to assess attachment in 95 romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care
  • they were compared to a control group of 50 children who never experienced institutional care
• zeanan - findings and conclusions

  • only 19% of institutionalised group were securely attached (74% of controls)
  • 44% of institutionalised group had characteristics of disinhibited attachment (20% of controls)
• effects of institutionalisation:

  • disinhibited attachment = such children tend to be equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or strangers. may be an adaptation to multiple caregivers
  • damage to intellectual development = institutionalised children often show signs of intellectual disability. this effect is not as pronounced if the children are adopted before 6 months