Attachment - institutionalisation

Question 1

what is institutionalisation

Answer 1

effects of living in an institution

Question 2

what was Rutter et al research

Answer 2

-2011
- 165 Romanian orphans part of English and Romanian adoptee study
- orphans adopted by families in the UK
- aim to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences
- physical and emotional development assessed at 4,6,11,15,22-25
- 52 children adopted at the same time served as the control group

Question 3

What did Rutter et al find

Answer 3

• mean IQ adopted before 6 months = 102
• mean IQ adopted between 6 months and 2 years = 86
• mean IQ adopted after 2 years = 77
• ADHD more common in 22-25 years
• adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment

Question 4

what did Zenah et al research

Answer 4

• 2005
• Bucharest early intervention project
• assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months spent most of their life in institutions
• compared to a control group of 50
• attachment types measured using the strange situation
• carers asked about unusual social behaviour

Question 5

what did Zenah et al find

Answer 5

• 74% of control group securely attached
• 19% of institution group securely attached
• 44% of institution had disinhibited attachment

Question 6

what is disinhibited attachment

Answer 6

• friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and stranger - unusual behaviour
• attention seeking, clingy

Question 7

what are the strengths of Romanian orphan studies

Answer 7

Real World Application
- improved psychologists understanding of the effects of institutionalisation and how to prevent them
- led to improvements in the conditions
- children’s homes avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child
- children have 1/2 key workers

Fewer confounding variables
- children in the studies experienced had trauma
- children had been handed over by loving parents who couldn’t afford to keep them
- results less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences

Question 8

what are the limitations of Romanian Orphan studies

Answer 8

Lack of Adult data
- cannot understand the long term effects of the data
- latest data ends in early 20s

Social sensitivity
- parents, teachers who may have lowered their expectations of the children based on data published
- children treated differently