Romanian Orphan Studies: Effects Of Institutionalisation Content Flashcards
(34 cards)
What is the main study from this topic?
Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (2010)
Why were Romanian children sent to orphanages?
The communist regime in Romania led to overpopulation as contraception was banned, but the economy couldn’t supply for all these children. They were sent to orphanages
What were conditions like in the Romanian orphanages?
. Multiple in a cot
. Not fed properly
. Even older babies didn’t get own bed
. No emotional care
What is an orphan study?
The study of a child who has been placed in care as parents not longer able to care for them
What is institutionalisation?
Any effects of living in an institutional setting e.g orphanages, prisons, hospitals
How many studied in the ERA?
165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK
What is another name for the Romanian orphans study?
ERA study - English and Romanian adoptees
What is Michael Rutter known as?
The ‘father of child psychiatry’
What was the aim of the Romanian orphan study?
To investigate to what extent would recovery be possible when extremely depriving conditions in early life were followed by generally good conditions in middle childhood
How were the Romanian orphans tracked in the study?
Longitudinally - over a long period of time
What was the experimental group (Romanian orphans) compared to?
A control group of 52 British children adopted before 6 months old
- hadn’t been in an institution
When were the groups of the ERA study first assessed?
At 4 years old
How often were the groups of children tested and how?
At 4, 6, 11 and 15 years old - regular intervals
Assessed using:
. Direct observations
. Psychometric assessments to assess physical, cognitive and social development
. Interviews with parents and teachers to gather extra information
How were the 165 Romanian orphans split into different groups of time of adoption?
58 babies adopted before 6 months
59 adopted between 6 months and 2 years
48 adopted between 2-4 years old
What is the research method of the ERA study?
Natural experiment
How old were the Romanian orphans when they went to the orphanages?
1-2 weeks, with minimal adult contact
What were the general findings of the ERA study?
. On adoption, all Romanian orphans lagged behind British control group in physical, social and cognitive development
- malnourished, smaller, mentally retarded
. Some children caught up by age 4, especially for most adopted before six months
. Correlation between age of adoption and rate of recovery
. Earlier adoption = higher mean IQ
. Adopted after 6 months = signs of disinhibited attachment
What do the ERA study findings suggest about the effects of institutionalisation?
Long term consequences are less severe than imagine IF children form attachments early on. If they don’t, the consequences are likely to be severe
What were the ERA findings on disinhibited attachment?
. By age 6, 26% Romanian orphans showed it, while only 3.8% British adoptees showed it
. By 11, 54% Romanian orphans showed this pattern
What were the findings on mean IQ in ERA study?
. Age 11: 102 IQ for those adopted before 6 months
. Age 11: 86 IQ for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years
. Age 11: 77 IQ for those adopted after 2 years
What is disinhibited attachment?
Form of insecure attachment - Typical effect of living in an institution, infants show indifference towards their care-givers and strangers, as they are friendly and affectionate to both
How did Rutter (2006) explain disinhibited attachment?
As partly due to the fact that infants living in institutions had multiple care-givers during the sensitive/critical period, as the Romanian orphanages had no consistency of care. Not seeing a specific care-giver enough stops a secure attachment from forming
What are the 2 other studies on Romanian orphans?
Le Mare and Audet (2006)
Zeanah et al (2005)
What did Le Mare and Audet (2006) do?
Reported the findings from a longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans adopted to families in Canada
