Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T16:48:42.051Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vulnerability and resilience after early institutional care: The Greek Metera study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2015

Panayiota Vorria ,
Maria Ntouma  and
Michael Rutter
Panayiota Vorria*
Affiliation:
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Maria Ntouma
Affiliation:
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Michael Rutter
Affiliation:
King's College London
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Panayiota Vorria, Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine possible influences on individual differences in adolescence in response to early institutional care in infancy not involving either generalized privation or subnutrition. Fifty-two adopted adolescents aged 13 years who received institutional care in infancy at the Metera Babies Centre and 36 adolescents of the same age who were raised in their biological families participated in the study. Adolescents' attachment relationships, cognition, behavioral adjustment and use of psychological services were assessed. Marked heterogeneity in outcomes was found. No predictive effects were found for preinstitutional features or for adoptive circumstances. By contrast a large effect was found for institutional care extending beyond the age of 2 years and for quality of institutional care as experienced at an individual level. There was a close association between prolonged institutional care and disorganized attachment while in the institution, but the main institutional effect derived from the length of time in the institution.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 859 - 866
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibou-Nakou, I., Kiosseoglou, G., & Stogiannidou, A. (2002). Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the school population. In Roussou, A. (Ed.), Psychometric issues in clinical practice and research (pp. 208–220). Athens, Greece: Ellinika Grammata.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (2010). Resilience under conditions of extreme stress: A multilevel perspective. World Psychiatry, 9, 145–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., Lynch, M., & Holt, K. D. (1993). Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 629–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2009). The past achievements and future promises of developmental psychopathology: The coming of age of a discipline. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 16–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. M. (1991). Stress and infectious disease in humans. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 5–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farran, D., Kasari, C., Comfort, M., & Jay, S. (1986). Parent/Caregiver Interaction Scale. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Georgas, D. D., Paraskevopoulos, I. N., Bezevegis, I. G., & Giannitsas, N. D. (1997). Greek WISC-III: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Athens, Greece: Ellinika Grammata.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D., & Williams, P. (1988). General Health Questionnaire. Windsor Berkshire: Nfer–Nelson.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1994). A modified version of the Rutter Parent Questionnaire including extra items on children's strengths: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1483–1494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Julian, M. M. (2013). Age at adoption from institutional care as a window into the lasting effects of early experiences. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 16, 101–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumsta, R., Rutter, M., Stevens, S., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2010). Risk, causation, mediation, and moderation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 75 (1, Serial No. 295), 187–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71, 543–562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A. S. (2014). Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. Child Development, 85, 6–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 491–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCall, R. B. (2013). Review: The consequences of early institutionalization: Can institutions be improved? Should they? Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 18, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Research Council. (2001). New horizons in health: An integrative approach. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, S., Fox, N. A., & Zeanah, C. H. (2014). Romania's abandoned children: Deprivation, brain development, and the struggle for recovery. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1972). Maternal deprivation reassessed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (2006). Implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 335–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (2013). Annual research review: Resilience—Clinical implications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54, 474–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Kreppner, J., O'Connor, T., & ERA Study Team (2001). Specificity and heterogeneity in children's responses to profound privation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 97–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Kreppner, J., Kumsta, R., et al. (2010). Deprivation-specific psychological patterns: Effects of institutional deprivation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 75(1, Serial No. 295).Google Scholar
Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of Children WISC-III and WPPSI-R supplement. San Diego, CA: Author.Google Scholar
Sheras, P. L., Abidin, R. R., & Konold, T. R. (1998). Stress Index for Parents of Adolescents: Professional manual. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
St. Petersburg–USA Orphanage Research Team. (2008). The effects of early social-emotional and relationship experience on the development of young orphanage children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 73(3, Serial No. 291).Google Scholar
Target, M., Fonagy, P., & Shmueli-Goetz, Y. (2003). Attachment representations in school-age children: The development of the Child Attachment Interview (CAI). Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 29, 171–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tizard, J., Sinclair, I., & Clarke, R. V. G. (1975). Varieties of residential experience. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Vaillant, G. E. (2013). Triumphs of experience: The men of the Harvard Grant Study. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
van IJzendoorn, M. H., Palacios, J., Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Gunnar, M. R., Vorria, P., McCall, R. B., et al. (2011). Children in institutional care: Delayed development and resilience. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 76(4), 8–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vorria, P., Ntouma, M., & Rutter, M. (2014a). The cognitive development and school achievement of adopted adolescents. The Greek “Metera” study. European Journal of Developmental Psychology. doi:10.1080/17405629.2014.933703Google Scholar
Vorria, P., Ntouma, M., & Rutter, M. (2014b). The behaviour of adopted adolescents who spent their infancy in residential group care: The Greek “Metera” study. Adoption & Fostering, 38, 271–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vorria, P., Ntouma, M., Vairami, M., & Rutter, M. (2015). Attachment relationships of adolescents who spent their infancy in residential group care: The Greek “Metera” study. Manuscript submitted for publication.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vorria, P., Papaligoura, Z., Dunn, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Steele, H., Kontopoulou, A., et al. (2003). Early experience and attachment relationships of Greek infants raised in residential group care. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 1208–1220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vorria, P., Papaligoura, Z., Sarafidou, J., Kopakaki, M., Dunn, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., et al. (2006). The development of adopted children after institutional care: A follow-up study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 1246–1253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed