Child-parent attachment following early institutional deprivation
The study examined attachment to adoptive caregivers at age four in 111 Romanian-born adoptees and 52 UK domestic adoptees. Children exposed to severe deprivation were less often classified as securely attached and more often showed atypical attachment behaviours. Longer deprivation was associated with greater disturbance. Some children combined conventional attachment classifications with atypical behaviours, raising questions about how attachment should be measured in this group.
Limitations: Attachment classifications are observational research measures and do not capture the whole relationship or children’s own accounts. This cohort experienced extreme early institutional deprivation and does not represent adoptees generally. Participants overlap with other ERA publications.
- Research type
- Comparative cohort analysis
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Children
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: Children
Adoption context: Intercountry adoption from Romanian institutions; UK domestic-adoption comparison
Programme: English and Romanian Adoptees Study
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified in the bibliographic material screened. This is not confirmation of institutional independence; affiliations, funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: attachment, institutional care, institutional deprivation, intercountry adoption, research methodology, UK research
Review scope: Source checked: Abstract. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: United Kingdom; Romania (origin)
- 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_bace48c4324826fd