The adult outcome of childhood quasi-autism arising following extreme institutional deprivation
Researchers followed adoptees identified in childhood with the ERA study’s “quasi-autism” pattern into adulthood. They compared 26 such participants with 75 adoptees exposed to extended deprivation without that pattern and 116 adoptees with low or no institutional deprivation. The childhood pattern was associated with persistent autism-related difficulties, ADHD and disinhibited social engagement symptoms, mental health difficulties and poorer educational and employment outcomes. Life satisfaction and self-esteem were not affected in the reported comparisons. Communication difficulties predicted poorer adult outcomes.
Limitations: The group with the childhood pattern was small and had experienced extreme early institutional deprivation. Results cannot be assumed to apply to autistic adoptees generally or to other adoption pathways. Observational associations do not establish causation. The abstract does not specify the informant for each outcome; the findings should not all be presented as direct adoptee self-report. Publications from the ERA programme use overlapping participants; separate publications are not independent samples.
- Research type
- Longitudinal cohort study
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Mixed
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: mixed
Adoption context: Intercountry adoption after institutional deprivation; UK domestic adoptee comparison group
Programme: English and Romanian Adoptees Study
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: ADHD, adult outcomes, autism, education, employment, institutional deprivation, longitudinal research, mental health
Review scope: Source checked: Abstract. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: England / Romania (adopted into UK families)
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_383f9986403945c9