Romanian orphan studies - institutionalisation

• Orphan studies

  Studies concerned with children placed in care because their parents can't look after them
• Institutionalization

  The effects of living in an institutional setting where there is often little emotional care provided
• Why was there so many orphans in Romania in the 1990s?

  The former Romanian president required Romanian women to have 5 children - many parents couldn't afford to keep their children so they had to send them to huge orphanages with very poor conditions
• When did many of the orphans get adopted?

  After the Romanian revolution in 1989
• 2 important institutionalization researchers

  Rutter et al and Zeanah et al
• Aim of Rutter's research

  Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions - orphans were adopted by families in the UK
• Procedure of Rutter's research

  Physical, cognitive, and emotional development was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15, and 22-25 years

  As a control group, 52 UK children were adopted around the same time
• Findings of Rutter's research

  When they first arrived, half showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished

  Aged 11, children showed differential rates of recovery related to age of adoption - mean IQ before the age of 6 months was 102, 6 months to 2 years was 86, and over 2 years was 77, and these differences remained at age 16

  ADHD was more common in ages 15 and 22-25 (Kennedy et al)

  Children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment, but those adopted before 6 months rarely did
• Signs of disinhibited attachment

  Attention-seeking, clinginess, and social behavior directed towards both familiar and unfamiliar adults
• Procedure of Zeanah's research

  The Bucharest Early Intervention (BEI) project assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who spent around 90% of their lives in institutional care

  Compared to a control group of 50 children who never lived in an institution

  Attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation and carers were asked about unusual social behavior
• Findings of Zeanah's research

  74% of the control group were classed as securely attached, compared to only 19% of the institutional group

  44% of the orphans displayed disinhibited attachment, compared to under 20% controls
• 2 effects of institutionalization

  Disinhibited attachment and intellectual disability
• Disinhibited attachment

  Being equally friendly and affectionate to familiar and unfamiliar people - highly unusual as most children aged over 2 years show stranger anxiety

  Rutter explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period

  In poor quality institutions, a child could have 50 carers but won't spend enough time with one of them to form a secure attachment
• Intellectual disability

  Most children in Rutter's study arrived in Britain with some signs of intellectual disability, but most of those adopted before 6 months old caught up with the control group by 4 years old

  Damage to intellectual development due to institutionalization can be recovered if adoption takes place before 6 months of age - when attachments form