Romanian orphan studies: institutionalisation

Rutter et la studied

English and Romanian adoptees

Procedure

Researchers followed 165 Romanian orphans wth poor conditions who were adopted in the UK

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

Control group of 52 children from the UK

Findings

Half the orphans showed delayed intellectual development, at age 11 recovery ates were related to age at adoption

Adopted before 6 months had a mean of 102 IQ

Adopted after two years ha a mean of 77 IQ

Frequency of disinhibited attachment

Related to age at adoption

Children adopted after 6 months old: clinginess, attention seeking and indiscriminate affecting to strangers

Rare in children adopted before 6 months

Conclusions in findings

Findings support bowlys view of a sensitive period in attachment

Failure to form an attachment before 6 months appears to have long lasting effects

Zeanah et al studied

Bucharest early intervention

Procedure

Researchers used strange situation to assess attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who spent most of their lives in institutional care

Compared to control group of 50 who never experienced institutional care

Findings

19% of the institutionalised group were securely attached (74% of controls)

44% of the institutionalised group had characteristics of disinhibited attachment (20% of the controls)

Effects of institutionalisation are

Disinhibited attachment

Damage to intellectual development

Disinhibited attachment

Such people tend to be equally friendly and affectionate to strangers and people they know well

This may be an adaptation to multiple caregivers

Damage to intellectual development

Institutionalised children often show signs of intellectual disability

This effect is not pronounced if children are adopted before 6 months

One strength is real world application

Results from this research have led o movements in way children are cared for in institutions

Children's homes now avoid large numbers of caregivers for each child, one or two key workers

This means children have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided

Another strength is fewer confounding variables

There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphan became available to study

These often involved children who experienced loss or trauma before they were institutionalised

Neglect, abuse and bereavement meant it was hard to observe effects of institutionalisation in isolation

Differences in institutionally cared for children are the result of this type of care

One limitation is lack of data in adult development

It is too soon to say whether children suffered permanent effects because we only have data on their development as far as early 20s

Romanian orphan studies have not yet yeilded their most important findings some children may 'catch up'