romanian orphan studies - institutionalisation

Question 1

institutionalisation

Answer 1

term for effects of living in an institutional setting

Question 2

rutter et al procedure

Answer 2

165 romanian orphans - english and romanian adoptee study

adopted by families in Uk and provided good care

assessed physically, cognitively and emotionally 4,6,11,15 and 22-25 years

52 Uk adoptees as control group

Question 3

rutter et al findings

Answer 3

at start half of adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development

mean IQ of those adopted before 6 months was 102 but 86 for those between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for after 2 years

adopted after 6 months - disinhibited attachment

Question 4

disinhibited attachment

Answer 4

attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults

Question 5

zeanah et al procedure

Answer 5

bucharest early intervention project

assessing attachment - 95 romanian orphans aged 12-31 months

compared to control of 50 never in institutions

strange situation

Question 6

zeanah et al findings

Answer 6

74% of control securely attached

19% of institutional group securely attached

44% disinhibited compared to less than 20%

Question 7

real-world application

Answer 7

P - strength as application to improve conditions for children growing up outside family home
E - understanding effects of early institutional care and prevent the effects
E - eg avoiding large number of caregivers and larger numbers of foster care
L - children in institutional care have chance to develop normal attachments

Question 8

fewer confounding variables

Answer 8

P - strength is lack of confounding variables
E - many orphan studies before romanian orphans - trauma, neglect, abuse ect
E - romanian orphans handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them
L - less likely to be confounded by negative experiences

P - studying from romanian orphanages introduced different confounding variables
E - quality of care was poor
E - children received very little intellectual stimulation or comfort
L - harmful may represent effects of poor institutional care rather than institutional care in general

Question 9

lack of adult data

Answer 9

P - limited as current lack of data on adult development
E - only until mid 20s - no data to answer questions of long-term effects
E - lifetime prevalence of mental health issues, success in adult relationships - longitudinal so need to wait
L - some time before we know more about long term effects