In this comment piece that accompanies Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories after early life deprivation: the young adult follow-up of the longitudinal English and Romanian Adoptees study, Frank C Verhulst discusses how that study "fills an important knowledge gap on the long-term mental health consequences of early severe childhood deprivation."
Verhulst posits that "the most salient finding was that children severely deprived up to 6 months and non-deprived UK adoptees had similarly low levels of problems, whereas severe deprivation lasting 6 months or more had persistent detrimental effects on individuals' behavioural and social development in terms of symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, disinhibited social engagement, and inattention and overactivity through to young adulthood (pooled p<0·0001 for all), despite the fact that they were raised in supportive and caring adoptive families." Verhulst also explores three questions that the study raises.