Do children adopted from British foster care show difficulties in executive functioning and social communication?

Do children adopted from British foster care show difficulties in executive functioning and social communication?

Alexandra E Wretham, Matt Woolgar · Adoption & Fostering

Thirty primary-school-aged UK children adopted from foster care completed cognitive and executive-function assessments; parents completed behaviour, executive-function and social-communication questionnaires. The children performed below age comparisons on two of three computerised executive tasks, and parents reported elevated behavioural and executive difficulties. All scored below the autism-screening threshold.

Limitations: Direct performance tests and parent proxy questionnaires provide different evidence. The small sample was compared with age norms, and correlations do not establish causation. Screening below a threshold does not rule out every neurodevelopmental difficulty. The related doctoral thesis may use the same participants. Publication relationship: this research was published by BAAF or in its Adoption & Fostering journal, now associated with CoramBAAF, an adoption-sector organisation. Publication does not establish that the organisation conducted the research; readers may take the institutional relationship into account.

Research type

Cross-sectional assessment study

Source reviewed

Abstract

Peer reviewed

Yes

Age group

Children