Romanian Orphan Studies: Institutionalisation

Orphan Studies: These concern children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them.

Institutionalisation: A term for the effect of living in an institution such as a hosputal or an orphanage where people live for a long, continuous period of time. There is often little emotional care provided.

Rutter et al (2011) Procedure: Followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain through the ERA program. Their physical, cognitive and emotional development had been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years. There was a control group of 52 UK children adoptees.

Rutter et al Findings: At the start, half the adoptees showed signs of hindered intellectual and emotional development. At 11 years old, those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102 compared to 86 for those adopted after 2 years and that of 77 for those adopted after 2 1/2 years. ADHD was more common in 15- and 22-25 year old samples. These differences remained at age 16. Those adopted after 6 months also showed signs of disinhibited attachment.

Zeanah et al (2005) Procedure: Assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who has serpent the majority of their lives in institutionalized care, compared to control groups of 50 children, who had never lived in an institution. They assessed their attachment type and asked carers about unusual social behaviour eg. clinginess and attention-seeking.

Zeanah et al Findings: 74% of the control group were securely attached compared to 19% of the institutional group. 44% of the institutional group showed signs of disinhibited attachment- compared to 20% of controls.

Disinhibited Attachment: An adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period which results in being equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers.

Intellectual Disability: Although intellectual damage does seem to appear as a result of maternal deprivation, this can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of six months.

Real-World Application: Studying Romanian Orphans has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of those effects which has led to improvements in the conditions experienced by looked-after children. For example, care homes now have one or two key workers who play an essential role in emotional care.

Fewer Confounding Variables: There were many orphans to study before the Romanian orphans however many had significant trauma which is hard to disentangle from the effects of institutional care. However the Romanian orphans had mainly been handed over by loving parents who simply couldn’t afford them.

Lack of Adult Data: The latest data from the ERA Study looked at children in their early to mid 20s so we won’t have data about the long term effects of early institutional care for many years as it is a longitudinal study.

Social Sensitivity: If these children learn of the research, it could act as a self-fulfilling prophecy.