Insitutionalisation Flashcards
What study represents this
The Romanian orphan studies
Whats the procedure of the Roman orphan study
Longitudinal study:
A psychologist (Rutter et al), followed a group of 165 romain orphans who were adopted in Britain.
They were split into 4 groups:
Less than 6 months
6-12 months
12-24 months
24 months and above
Physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological development were assessed at ages 4,6,11,15,22 and 25
Teachers and parents were also interviewed about the child’s development
Findings of the Romanian orphan study (cognitive development)
Cognitive development :
When they first arrived to the uk they all showed signs of delayed intellectual development
When adopted under the age of 6 months, by the time they were 11 they had an IQ of 102 (which is around average), but when adopted after 2 years thy showed an IQ of 77 (which is extremely low)
In adulthood, the Roman orphans has a brain scan and it showed that their brain was around 8% smaller then a healthy brain and the loner they spent in institutions then the smaller the brains were
Findings of the Romanian orphan study (psychological development)
Psychological development
As the children got older there was clinical issues as ADHD was seven times more common (in 15 year olds) and in 22-25 year olds autism was ten times more common
Findings of the Romanian orphan study (emotional development)
All the children adopted after 6 months, showed an attachment style called disinhibited attachment which includes behaviour such as attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour, however those adopted before 6 months, rarest displayed this type of attachment.
Strength evaluation
P- Real world applications
E- Results from this research has improved the way children are cared for in institutionalisations, and these children are now having large amounts of caregivers and have specific caregivers to play a specific role
E- This allows children in institutionalisation to form normal attachments, and not disinhibited
P- High ecological validity
E- This study was focused on real like experiences of children who were under institutionalised care, who were later adopted and raised by a family
E- These findings can be generalised to other children in similar situations.
Limitation evaluation
P- Lack of data in adulthood
E- Children suffered serious effects that impacted their emotional, physical, cognitive and psychological development and we only have data up to their early 20s, suggesting that we don’t know what could happen in romantic relationships (could they be formed and maintained?)
E- This means we cant identify all the possible issues from the data we have.
P- Not completely generalisable
E- The setting in institutions in different countries might vary and some might be better then others, meaning less overcrowding and better basic care
E- These environmental factors will impact severity of developmental issued seen in the children
