Romanian orphan studies

Romanian orphan studies

1. effects of institutionalisation

   • Disinhibited attachment
   • damage to intellectual development unless the child is adopted before 6 months of age

2. Rutter et al (2011) Procedure: Researchers followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very poor conditions before being adopted in Britain. The longitudinal study tests if good care can make up for poor early experiences institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was tested at 4.6.11 & 15 years. A control group of 52 British children. Findings; Half of the orphans showed mental retardation when they came to the UK. At age 11 recovery rates were related to the age of adoption. Adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102, 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86 and after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77. The frequency of disinhibited attachment was related to age of adoption also; after 6 months the child was affectionate to strangers, before 6 months old this attachment was rare. These findings support the view of a sensitive period as failure to form an attachment before 6 months of age has long lasting effects.

3. Important practical applications; Langton (2006) results from this research has lead to improvements in childcare in institutions. As they know have 1 or 2 key workers for a certain child. This gives a chance for the child to develop a normal attachment.

4. Fewer confounding variables than other research; Before the Romanian orphan study, there was other orphan studies but these children had been abused and experienced a loss before they were institutionalised. Therefore it was hard to assess the effects of institutionalisation was hard to test as the children was affected by many factors functioning as confounding variables. As many of the Romanian orphans was abandoned at birth it is possible to study institutionalisation without confounding variables which increase internal validity.

5. Issues with generalisability with Romanian studies; The conditions of the orphans was so bad that the results may not apply to institutional care or general situations of deprivation, As the quality of care was very poor and had poor relationships with the children. Therefore the unusual situational variables mean the study may lack generalisability.

6. Children was not randomly assigned to conditions; Rutter et al did not interfere with the adoption process so those children adopted early may have been more sociable, which is a confounding variable. Bucharest Early intervention did randomly assign the orphans, this is better methodology as it removes the confounding variable of some children being selected.

7. The long term effects of early experience is not clear yet; it is hard to say if the children have had short term or long term effects as they have only been followed into there mid teens. The children who have spent longer in institutions currently are behind in tellectual development or display attachment diffuculties. However early adopted children may still experience emotional problems in adulthood.