Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY
Volume 51, Issue 7, Pages 683-693Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2012.05.004
Keywords
institutionalization; early childhood; caregiving; attachment; psychopathology
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- National Science Foundation
- University of New Orleans Office of Research
- Catholic Charities of New Orleans
- Tulane University Clinical and Translational Research Education Center (CTREC)
- Rieger Foundation
- state of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Tulane University
- National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
- Hyundai
- Louisiana Board of Regents
- Harvard University
- Simons Foundation
- Autism Speaks
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Sinneave Family Foundation
- Thrasher Foundation
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- Department of Defense
- Fidelity Foundation
- Harris Foundation
- Guilford Press
- Harvard University Press
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation through the Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development
- Binder Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: Children exposed to early institutional rearing are at risk for developing psychopathology. The present investigation examines caregiving quality and the role of attachment security as they relate to symptoms of psychopathology in young children exposed to early institutionalization. Method: Participants were enrolled in the Bucharest Early intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal intervention study of children abandoned and placed in institutions at or shortly after birth. Measures included observed caregiving when children were 30 months of age, observed attachment security at 42 months, and caregiver reports of children's psychopathology at 54 months. At 54 months, some children remained in institutions, others were in foster care, others had been adopted domestically, and still others had been returned to their biological families. Thus, the children had experienced varying amounts of institutional rearing. Results: After controlling for gender, quality of caregiving when children were 30 months old was associated with symptoms of multiple domains of psychopathology at 54 months of age. Ratings of security of attachment at 42 months mediated the associations between quality caregiving at 30 months and fewer symptoms of psychopathology at 54 months. Conclusions: Among deprived young children, high-quality caregiving at 30 months predicted reduced psychopathology and functional impairment at 54 months. Security of attachment mediated this relationship. Interventions for young children who have experienced deprivation may benefit from explicitly targeting caregiver child attachment relationships. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2012;51(7):683-693.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available