Romanian orphan studies: institutionalisation

Rutter:

165 Romanian orphans, adopted in Britain, compared to a group of UK adopted children. Assessed emotional, physical and cognitive development at various ages (longitudinal)

Adoption time differences:

Before 6 months: Caught up from intellectual disability by 4, their mean IQ was 102.

After 6 months: Disinhibited attachment - Show attention seeking behaviours, show equal interest to familiar and unfamiliar adults. Mean IQ was 86.

Real-world application

Increased our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation. There have been improvements to the care system so orphans will have one or two key attachment figures

Long term effects

The effects of institutionalisation are still unclear for the long term. The orphans have not been followed up, they may have more or less issues as adults

Few confounding variables

The romain orphan study had fewer confounding variables than other orphan studies. Other studies had confounding variables such as abuse, but these orphans had loving families who couldn’t afford them. High internal validity

Bucharest early intervention project support:

Zeanah (2005) strange situation, 95 children who spent 90% of their lives in institutions, compared to 50 children who had never lived in an institution.

74% of the control group were securely attached, whereas, only 19% of the other children were securely attached, 65% were classified with disorganised attachment.