‘Adopted children might face pre-adoption adversity on cognitive and behavioral development. Caring and expressive families could reduce those effects whereas rule-driven ones might worsen them.’
The study enrolled 10 children who are between14 and 40 months of age from Eastern European institutionalized care and 19 similar children born to American families. After adoption by American families, the children were tested for physical, psychological, and developmental tests twice during the two consecutive years . The families were given questionnaires regarding the children’s development and aspects of their home lives.
What did they observe?
Based on the evaluations made regarding the children’s signs of development and responses received from parents, the researchers found the presence of growth deficits in adopted children when compared to the American-born children. The study also revealed that families which were cohesive and expressive moderated these deficits whereas families which gave greater emphasis on rules and conflicts pose a serious risk to the mental development of adopted children.
The study stresses the importance of bonding and openness in families although larger studies are needed to verify the causal relationship between the rule-driven family and growth deficits in adopted children.
Source: Medindia
