Romanian Orphan Studies

Question 1

What is the background information of romanian orphan studies?

Answer 1

• former president requires women to have 5 children.
• many families can’t afford to keep them, so children are sent to orphanages with poor conditions.
• 1989 romanian revolution led to many of the children being adopted, some by British parents.

Question 2

What is institutionalisation?

Answer 2

A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting.

Question 3

What is an institution?

Answer 3

A place, like a hospital or orphanage, where people live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places, there is often very little emotional care provided.

Question 4

What are two effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 4

• disinhibited attachment
• intellectual disability

Question 5

What is the effect of institutionalisation on disinhibited attachment?

Answer 5

This is a typical effect of spending time in an institution. The children are equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers.

Question 6

What is the effect of institutionalisation on intellectual disability?

Answer 6

In Rutter’s study, most showed signs of intellectual disability at first, but most adopted by 6 months caught up by the age of 4.

Question 7

How have romanian orphan studies lead to practical application?

Answer 7

Studying the Romanian orphans has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects (Langton, 2006).

Question 8

How do romanian orphan studies arguably have higher validity than previous studies?

Answer 8

Romanian orphan studies lack confounding variables of previous studies (eg Goldfarb’s wartime orphanage study), as most of the children in Romanian orphanages had been handed over by loving parents who couldn’t afford to keep them.

Question 9

What makes the ERA study longitudinal?

Answer 9

The latest data from the ERA study looked at the children in their early to mid 20s. This makes it longitudinal as it looks at the long term effects of institutionalisation.

Question 10

How can the research into Romanian orphans be deemed as socially sensitive?

Answer 10

It may make the parents feel as though they are to blame, and like they are being judged for giving up their children, despite most of them having no choice.

Question 11

How could confounding variables have limited Rutter’s research?

Answer 11

He found a negative correlation between age at adoption and intellectual development - correlation not causation, so confounding variables could’ve been an influence or even the cause.

Question 12

What was Rutter et al’s study in 2011?

Answer 12

English and Romanian Adoptee Study (ERA)

Question 13

What was the experimental group in thee ERA study?

Answer 13

165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK.

Question 14

What was the control group in the ERA study?

Answer 14

52 British children adopted before 6 months (never been in an institution).

Question 15

At what ages were participants assessed during the ERA study?

Answer 15

4 years, 6 years, 11 years, 15 years. (

(this makes it a longitudinal study, allowing researchers to see how behaviour changes over time).

Question 16

How were participants assessed during the ERA study?

Answer 16

• parental reports
• direct observations
• psychometric assessments

Question 17

What was the first finding of the ERA study?

Answer 17

Where children came to the UK before 6 months, most of them had caught up with the physical growth and cognitive abilities of the British children by the time they were 4.

Question 18

What was the second finding of the ERA study?

Answer 18

Serious problems continued in a minority of children adopted after the age of 6 months.

Question 19

What was the third finding of the ERA study?

Answer 19

Where serious problems occured, researchers noticed. 4 patterns:
- Quasi Autism
- Disinhibited Attachment
- Inattention and Overactivity
- Cognitive Impairment

Question 20

What is quasi autism in the ERA study?

Answer 20

Not clinically autistic, but showed symptoms, eg obsessive behaviours.

Question 21

What is disinhibited attachment in the ERA study?

Answer 21

• little to no stranger anxiety/fear.
• failure to return to caregiver.
• willingness to leave with stranger.
• behave the same way to caregiver and stranger.

Question 22

What is inattention and overactivity in the ERA study?

Answer 22

• difficult to concentrate and control impulses.
• symptoms of ADHD.

Question 23

What is cognitive impairment in the ERA study?

Answer 23

• low IQ.
• adopted before 6 months: mean IQ of 102 at age 11.
• 6 months to 2 years: mean IQ of 86 at age 11.
• after 2 years: mean IQ of 77 at age 11.

Question 24

What was the first conclusion that Rutter made from the ERA study?

Answer 24

The earlier adoption occurs, the less severe the long term effects of institutionalisation and deprivation, as children have the opportunity to form attachments.

Question 25

What was the second conclusion that Rutter made from the ERA study?

Answer 25

There is a crucial period in life when attachments develop, most likely before and up to the age of 6 months. If attachments do not form, the consequences are likely to be severe.

Question 26

What was Charles Zeanah et al’s study in 2005?

Answer 26

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEI)

Question 27

What method was used to assess attachment types in the BEI project?

Answer 27

The straneg situation method.

Question 28

What was the experimental group in the BEI project?

Answer 28

95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months old. Most had spent their lives in institutional care.

Question 29

What was the control group in the BEI project?

Answer 29

50 children who had never lived in an institution.

Question 30

What secondary method was used in the BEI project?

Answer 30

Carers were also asked about unusual social behaviour.

Question 31

What were the findings for the experimental group in the BEI project?

Answer 31

• 19% were securely attached.
• 44% showed disinhibited attachment.

Question 32

What were the findings for the control group in the BEI project?

Answer 32

• 74% were securely attached.
• less than 20% showed disinhibited attachment.