What was the sample of Rutter 1998?

The ERA, led by Professor Michael Rutter and Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, has followed a random sample of 165 Romanian children, most of whom had spent their early lives in institutions in which conditions ranged from poor to abysmal.

When was the Romanian Orphan study?

In 1989 Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu was overthrown, and the world discovered that 170,000 children were being raised in Romania’s impoverished institutions. As the children’s plight became public, Fox, Nelson and Zeanah realized they had a unique opportunity to study the effects of early institutionalization.

Was the Romanian orphanage study ethical?

It is true that institutionalized children in Romania were harmed by their institutionalization. The children in the intervention arm, given their better developmental outcomes, do not appear to have been harmed by their placement in foster care. So, the study did not harm any participants.

What is the Monotropic theory?

A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure. This is called monotropy. This concept of monotropy suggests that there is one relationship which is more important than all the rest. Bowlby’s suggests that there is a critical period for developing at attachment (2.5 years).

What type of experiment did Rutter use?

Rutter’s Study Procedure: Rutter (1998) studied Romanian orphans who had been placed in orphanages, aged 1-2 weeks old, with minimal adult contact. This was a Longitudinal study and natural experiment, using a group of around 100 Romanian orphans and assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11, then re-assesed 21 years later.

What is the Romanian Adoption Study?

The English and Romanian Adoptees study is a longitudinal, natural experiment investigation into the long-term outcomes of individuals who spent from soon after birth to up to 43 months in severe deprivation in Romanian institutions before being adopted into the UK.

What has been learned from the research on Romanian orphans?

ASLANIAN: Nelson says Romania’s abandoned children created an opportunity to learn how much rewiring was possible at different ages. For five years researchers tracked their progress against children who remained in the institution and a control group of Bucharest kids growing up with their own families.

What have we learned about the impact of early human relationships from Romanian orphans?

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project showed that children deprived of quality relationships also have abnormal brain development. The institutionalized children were found to have stunted and delayed patterns of brain activity, cognitive development and physical growth.