Romanian orphan studies: Institutionalisation Flashcards
Research on maternal deprivation has turned to ______ _______ as a means of studying the effects of deprivation on emotional and intellectual development
orphan studies
Research on maternal deprivation has turned to orphan studies as a means of studying…
the effects of deprivation on emotional and intellectual development
A tragic opportunity to look at the effects of institutional care and the consequent ____________________ arose in which country in the 1990s?
institutionalisation, Romania
Former President of Romania Ceaucescu required Romanian women to have how many children?
Five
Many Romania parents couldn’t afford to keep their children the children ended up in…
huge orphanages in very poor conditions
What happened in the 1989 Romanian revolution?
Many of the children in orphanages were adopted, some by British parents
Rutter et al. (2011) followed a group of how many Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study?
165
Rutter et al. (2011) followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of…
the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study
The orphans followed by Rutter et al. (2011) had been adopted by…
families in the UK
The orphans followed by Rutter et al. (2011) had been _______ by families in the UK
adopted
What has the aim of the ERA been?
To investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
Rutter et al. (2011) assessed which types of development in the Romanian orphans?
Physical, cognitive and emotional
Rutter et al. (2011) assessed physical, cognitive and emotional development at which ages?
4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25
What was the control group in Rutter et al. (2011)’s study?
A group of 52 children from the UK adopted around the same time
Rutter et al. (2011) found that when the children first arrived in the UK, what percentage of the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development?
50%
Rutter et al. (2011) found that when the children first arrived in the UK, a minority/majority were severely malnourished
majority
Rutter et al. (2011) found that at age 11 the adopted children showed ____________ rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption
differential
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of six months was what?
102
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of how many months was 102?
6
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted between six months and two years was what?
86
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted between which ages was 86?
Six months and two years
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted after two years was what?
77
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ of those children adopted after how many years was 77?
Two
Rutter et al. (2011) found that the earlier on in life the Romanian children were adopted, the higher…
their IQ
True/False: Beckett et al. (2010) found that the IQ differences found by Rutter et al. (2011) remained at age 16
True
In relation to Romanian orphan studies, what did Kennedy et al. (2016) find was more common in 15- and 22-25-year-old samples?
ADHD
Rutter et al. (2011) found that in terms of attachment, there appeared to be a difference in outcome related to whether the adoption took place before or after how many months?
Six
Rutter et al. (2011) found that children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a particular attachment style called what?
Disinhibited attachment?
Give an example of a symptom of disinhibited attachment
Any from attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards adults, both familiar and unfamiliar
True/False: Children adopted before the age of six months often displayed disinhibited attachment
False, they rarely displayed this attachment style
Zeanah et al. (2005) conducted the B________ e____ i___________ (BEI) project
Bucharest early intervention
What did Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project assess?
Attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average)
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project assessed attachment in how many Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average)?
95
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children aged __ - __ months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average)
12 - 31
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12 - 31 months who had spent most their lives in what kind of care?
Institutional care
On average, what percentage of their lives had the children assessed in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project spent in care?
90
The children in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project were compared to a control group of how many children who had never lived in an institution?
50
The children in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project were compared to a control group of 50 children who…
had never lived in an institution
How was attachment measured in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project?
The Strange Situation and carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (a measure of disinhibited attachment)
Besides using the Strange Situation, how was attachment type measured in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project?
Carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (a measure of disinhibited attachment)
Give an example of unusual social behaviour that parents were asked about in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project
Clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults
Why were carers asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour displayed by children in Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project?
This is a measure of disinhibited attachment
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project found that __% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the Strange Situation
74
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project found that __% of the institutional group were securely attached
19
Zeanah et al. (2005)’s BEI project found that the description of disinhibited attachment applied to __% of institutionalised children as opposed to __% of the controls
44, 20
Children who have spent their early lives in an institution often show signs of which type of attachment?
Disinhibited
Being equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers is a sign of which type of attachment?
Disinhibited
Why is being equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers at the age of 2 unusual?
Most children in their second year show stranger anxiety
Rutter (2006) explained disinhibited attachment as an adaption to…
living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation
In poor quality institutions, like those in Romania, a child might have 50 carers but doesn’t spend enough time with any one of them to be able to form a what?
Secure attachment
In Rutter (2011)’s study most children showed signs of what when they arrived in Britain?
Intellectual disability
In Rutter (2011)’s study, most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain. However, most of those adopted before how many months old caught up with the control group by age four?
dix
In Rutter (2011)’s study, most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain. However, most of those adopted before six months caught up with the control group by age _
4
It appears that, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided that…
adoption takes place before the age of six months - the age at which attachments form
True/False: It appears that, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation cannot be recovered
False, it appears that it can be provided that adoption takes place before the age of six months - the age at which attachments form
One strength of Romanian orphanage studies is their application to to improve conditions for…
children growing up outside their family home
What has studying the Romanian orphans improved psychologists’ understanding of? (Langton (2006))
The effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects
The fact that Romanian orphan studies have improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects has led to improvements in what?
Conditions experienced by looked-after children, i.e. children growing up in the care system
Children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child as a result of learnings from which studies?
Romanian orphan studies
Instead of children having large numbers of caregivers for each child, what do children in institutions tend to have now?
One or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role in their emotional care
Institutional care is now seen as a(n) desirable/undesirable option for looked-after children
Undesirable
Instead of institutional care, considerable effort is now made to accommodate looked-after children in…
foster care or to have them adopted instead
True/False: There were many confounding variables in Romanian orphan studies
False, is a lack of confounding variables
True/False: There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became to available to study
True
What was the problem with orphan studies before the Romanian orphans (e.g. orphans studied during the Second World War)?
Many of the children had experienced varying degrees of trauma - it is difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those in institutional care
What was different about the Romanian orphan studies compared to other previous orphan studies?
Children from Romanian orphanages had been handed over by loving parents who couldn’t afford to keep them instead of having suffered neglect, physical abuse and bereavement like children in previous studies
The fact that children had been neglected, physically abused and been through bereavement in previous orphan studies to the Romanian orphan studies was a problem because…
these factors acted as confounding variables
The lack of confounding variables in the Romanian orphan studies means that the results had higher ________ validity
internal
Why may studying children from Romanian orphanages have introduced different confounding variables?
The quality of care in these institutions was remarkably poor, with children receiving little intellectual stimulation or comfort.
The fact that the quality of care in Romanian institutions was remarkably poor means what about the harmful effects seen in studies of Romanian orphans and attachment?
They may represent the effects of poor institutional care rather than institutional care itself.
One limitation of Romanian orphanage studies is the current lack of data on _____ development
adult
The latest data from the ERA study looked at children in their early- to mid- __s
20s
The fact that the latest data from the ERA study looked at children in their early- to mid- 20s means…
that we don’t currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care
Why don’t we currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care?
There is a lack of adult data - the latest data from the ERA study looked at children in their early- to mid- 20s
Research questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care include…
the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants’ success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships
Why will it take a long time to gather data about Romanian orphans as adults?
Because of the longitudinal design of the study - the same participants are followed over a long period
If a study has a longitudinal design, this means what?
The same participants are followed over a long period
True/False: We will know more about what the long-term effects are for Romanian orphans soon
False, it will be a long time before we know more
We may possibly find that late-adopted children ‘_____ __’ when more data about Romanian orphans is obtained in their adult lives
catch up
Why are the Romanian orphan studies socially sensitive?
The results show that late-adopted children typically have poor developmental outcomes and these results have been published while the children have been growing up, meaning that their parents, teachers and anyone else who knew them might have lowered their expectations and treated them differently
What’s the problem with the fact that results showing that late-adopted children typically have poor developmental outcomes from Romanian orphan studies have been published?
They have been published while the children have been growing up - meaning that their parents, teachers and anyone else who knew them might have lowered their expectations and treated the adopted children differently. This may have even created a self-fulfilling prophecy
True/False: Not much has been learned from the Romanian orphan studies that benefit future institutionalised or potentially institutionalised children
False, a lot has been learned
