dezavantaje la dezvoltare

Question 1

Isolated and confined children

Answer 1

Feral children - no human contact or nurture
Victor discovered in a forest in 1800
Lived with wolves

Genie: imprisoned in a dark room and abused between the ages of 20m and 13y
Experiencing physical developmental delays
Fine motor skills were at a level of 2yo
She never caught up so sensitive period of development

Question 2

Institutionalised children

Answer 2

Children in a care setting
Large number of children and little number of carers

Risk factors
Low living standards
Substandard nutrition
High child to caregiver ration
Poorly trained caregivers who may have insensitive or be unresponsive to children
Inadequate cognitive, linguistic and sensory stimulation

Question 3

Romanian orphan studies background

Answer 3

Contraception and abortions were illegal
100,000 children in such institutions
In 1989 many children adopted

Natural experiment: investigate the consequences of deprivation

Question 4

English and Romanian adoptees

Answer 4

Compared four groups

Adopted from rom before 6m
Adopted from Rom between 6m and 24m
Adopted from rom between 24m and 43m
Adopted from UK before 6m

Romanian groups had lower cognitive abilities, more attachment problems, inattention, overactivity, emotional difficulties, autistic features, cognitive impairment, peer difficulties, conduct problems

But there were differences across groups and individual differences

Question 5

what was the effect of longer stay in institutions

Answer 5

The longer these children have been in institutionalised care, the more social and cognitive facets were impaired

At 4-6 years
Children arriving before 6m were similar to UK adoptees

6-24m were more affected
Over24m were severely impaired

Children in all groups demonstrated significant catch up after adoption, BUT the effect of deprivation still persisted at age 11 for children who spent more than 6m in the institution

Question 6

What are limitations

Answer 6

Maybe some orphanages weren’t as bad as others
Maybe some already had developmental issues and that’s why they were given for adoption

Question 7

Bucharest early intervention project

Answer 7

Randomised into different environments
3 groups

Children placed in institutions at birth who still live in institutions
Children placed in institutions at birth who now live in foster care
Children living with their biological families in Bucharest

Positives: randomised which are in care and which in institutions and in country comparison

Negatives: is it ethical to say some of these children stay in institutions if you know the conditions are bad

Question 8

Findings of bucharest

Answer 8

Children placed in foster care made significant cognitive, social and emotional gains
Both children in institutions and children in foster care performed below children raised in their biological families

For brain activity and attachment children who were placed in foster care before 24m had better outcomes

Question 9

The effect of deprivation on brain development

Answer 9

Romanian adoptees showed reduced brain metabolism in prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe and regions associated with higher cognitive functions

In comparison with a non institutionalised group, Romanian adoptees showed reduced amplitude in ERP components when presented with facial expressions - less neural activation

So institutionalisation reduces cortical brain activity

Question 10

What is the interaction between genes and environment

Answer 10

Postnatal brain development is driven by gene x environment interaction
Genes provide early specification of structures and circuits, experience provides specialisation and fine tuning

Normal development requires certain experiences during a sensitive period - responsive caregiver

Lack of environmental input - misfiring of circuits

Question 11

individual differences

Answer 11

G x E: effect of exposure to environmental adversity is moderated by genes - so the effect of institutionalisation is affected by genes

gene that encodes 5HTT - serotonin transporter protein

Short allele associated with lower capacity of the protein than the long allele

In the Romanian studies, there was a difference in the prevalence of 2 alleles for this gene which has something to do with later development

Problem with candidate gene studies. Effects are often poorly replicated.

Question 12

what did they found about genes of children from ERA sample

Answer 12

studies genotype of children from the ERA sample between the ages of 11 and 15

relationship between severe deprivation in early life and development of emotional difficulties in adolescence which was moderated by 5HTT

Short allele carriers had more emotional problems at both 11 and 15

Question 13

children and social disadvantage

Answer 13

low SES children typically perform worse in school and have worse employment prospects

poverty is also associated with behavioural problems, adjustment difficulties and difficult peer relations

in 2014 there were 37% of disadvantages children achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE compared to 64% of all other children

Question 14

racial prejudice and discrimination

Answer 14

18% of asian and 20% of african caribbean pupils report having been victims of racial abuse

perceived racial discrimination leads to low self-esteem, peer rejection amongst ethnic minority adolescence

Question 15

developemntal disorders

Answer 15

exposure to risk factors such as poverty, abuse, victimisation and neglect are all associated with psychopathology

often results in disruptive behaviour in school - interrupts teaching and learning

Question 16

Conduct disorder

Answer 16

DSM 5: A repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major appropriate societal norms or rules are violated

Aggression to people and animals
Deceitfulness or theft

Most common psychiatric disorder in childhood 9.5% in US

Question 17

child maltreatment and psychopathology

Answer 17

the relationship between child maltreatment and externalising symptoms (such as conduct disorder) is mediated by emotion regulation

If a child is experiencing child maltreatment - that is association with low emotion regulation - that leads to externalising symptoms - which then leads to peer rejection

Peer rejection is both a cause and a consequence of externalising symptoms

Question 18

trauma and emotion regulation

Answer 18

lower emotion regulation in children with adverse life experiences linked to the HPA system

When HPA system is activated, it leads to release of cortisol, a stress hormone, which helps the body cope with stressors. However, repeated exposures to stress can dysregulate the HPA system, leading to alterations in cortisol levels and potentially affecting emotional regulation.

In newborns, mildly stressful experiences increase cortisol - but responsiveness of the HPA system decreases gradually through environment - sensitive caregiver providing nurturing

Sensitive caregiving and attachment security mediate HPA responsiveness

Deprivation of evolutionarily expected levels of care is associated with dysregulation of HPA system

Question 19

emotion recognition and maltreamtnet study

Answer 19

3-5 yo olds ability to match facial displays to emotional context

e.g. Johnny couldn’t play with his friend anymore. Which facial expression is he most likely to display - sad or happy?

3 groups of children
1. children who experienced neglect
2. children who experienced physical abuse
3. non-maltreated children

Question 20

emotion recognition and maltreatment findings

Answer 20

Compared with non-maltreated and physically abused children, neglected children showed impaired discrimination of emotional expressions.

Neglected children were less able to distinguish between happy and sad expressions than the other group

Neglected children showed a response bias for sad faces

Physically abused children displayed a response bias for angry facial expressions

Maltreated children’s difficulties with emotion recognition may make it more difficult for these children to effectively recognise and appropriately respond to social signals

Question 21

protective facotrs

Answer 21

from ecological systems theory

microsystem - closely related to child - parents

mesosystem - interactions - school - if child lacks in microsystem, they will seek out emotional connectivity from people within the mesosystem - teachers

family support moderates the effects of displacement and trauma - having a strong microsystem

seeking out surrogate parents from mesosystem- moderates adverse early life experiences from microsystem

community groups moderate the impact of school exclusion

Question 22

Sure Start

Answer 22

education programme targeted in areas with high concentrations of 4yo living in poverty
aimed to overcome the cycle of disadvantage faced by poor families

improving children’s health and social-emotional development

also providing support for parents

Question 23

national evaluation of sure start

Answer 23

+more positive parents practices reported in sure start areas

+children from relatively less disadvantaged families showed fewer behaviour problems and more social competence

-families from disadvantaged areas were adversely affected by living in a sure start community

-families did not rate it better than other services

Question 24

why are the disadvantaged families having negative response

Answer 24

parents in the most disadvantaged families might have a reluctance

Deficit model: children’s social and academic difficulties are a result of inadequate care at home - feels like you are blaming the parent

Difference model: not that parent is doing something wrong, but something that is having an impact - advocate for better understanding of different people’s values, attitudes and behaviours in disadvantaged communities

By focusing on the entire family, these interventions become more effective - rather than focusing on the child