ERIC Number: EJ951632
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-May
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9630
EISSN: N/A
Institutional Care: Associations between Overactivity and Lack of Selectivity in Social Relationships
Roy, Penny; Rutter, Michael; Pickles, Andrew
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, v45 n4 p866-873 May 2004
Background: The behaviour of children raised in institutional care in their early years is typified by heightened levels of inattention and overactivity irrespective of the quality of the care. There is some evidence that this behaviour may be specifically associated with forms of attachment disorder behaviours, but to date studies have been restricted to institutions characterised by high levels of malnutrition and lack of active experiences. Methods: Nineteen primary school age children admitted to good quality residential group care before the age of 1 year were compared with 19 children of the same gender reared in a foster family from the same age. A combination of observational, questionnaire, interview and psychometric measures was employed. Results: A fifth of the institutional children but none of the foster-family children showed a marked lack of selective attachment relationships with their caregivers. The same proportions were found for a lack of selectivity in friendships with their peers but the children showing these features were not identical. A lack of selectivity in relationships was strongly associated with inattention/overactivity, both as observed and reported. The pattern of a marked lack of selectivity and inattention/overactivity was evident only in the boys in the institution-reared group. Conclusions: It is concluded that the pattern represents a relatively specific response to some feature of an institutional rearing; nevertheless, it occurred in only just over a third of the institutional children, so that it is a far from universal consequence.
Descriptors: Attachment Behavior, Foster Care, Interpersonal Competence, Elementary School Students, Males, Gender Differences, Young Children, Behavior Disorders, Child Development, Psychometrics, Comparative Analysis, Correlation, Residential Care, Residential Institutions, Hyperactivity, Attention, Observation, Interviews, Questionnaires, Child Behavior
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A