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This webinar was hosted by the Evidence for Impact Working Group of the Transforming Children’s Care Collaborative on March 30, 2023, and examined the Early Institutionalization Intervention Impact Project in Brazil.
The Early Institutionalization Intervention Impact Project's (EI-3) main goal is to document and compare the impacts that enhanced institutional care and enhanced foster care have on development during early childhood.
The EI-3 research project builds upon the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). Conducted in…
Significance
There is evidence that the cognitive abilities of children who experience early, severe psychosocial deprivation are superior for those in family- versus group-based placements. However, it is unknown whether these placements have long-lasting effects. Using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, we found that individuals randomized to foster care following early institutionalization had IQ scores in early adulthood that were, on average, 9.00 points above those of individuals assigned to care as usual. The persistence of causal effects of foster care…
Over the last 20 years, much has been learned about the extent to which early-life deprivation affects the mental health of children and adolescents. This body of evidence comes predominantly from studies of children raised in institutional care.
The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) is the only randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate whether the transition to family-based foster care early in development can ameliorate the long-term impact of institutional deprivation on psychopathology during vulnerable developmental windows such as adolescence.
In this review, the…
This study examined longitudinal data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care following exposure to severe psychosocial deprivation. The authors report data from 135 participants assessed in early adulthood (age 18 y). They found that 16 years after randomization occurred, those who had been randomized to high-quality foster care had significantly higher IQ scores (9 points, 0.6 SD) than those randomized to care as usual.
Mediation analyses provide evidence that the causal effect of the intervention…
Background
Children and adolescents in residential care have more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than those living in any other type of care. However, there is scant research on risk factors accounting for this accumulation.
Objective
To establish the prevalence of ACEs in child residential care and to explore predictors of accumulation and clustering patterns.
Method
A cluster-randomized sample of 1275 children ages 5–18 years was drawn from 78 residential care facilities across Romania. Clinical psychologists from Child Protective Services (CPS) aided in the…
Following the onset of the crisis in Ukraine and due to the significant care issues affecting children impacted by the conflict and displacement, the Global Collaborative Platform supported by the Better Care Network established a temporary global inter-agency group focused on children’s care in the context of the Ukraine crisis – the Ukraine Children’s Care group. The group is convened by members of the Global Collaborative Platform with the purpose of facilitating practical coordination and collaboration amongst development and humanitarian care actors supporting or operating in Ukraine and…
Institutional rearing negatively impacts the development of children's social skills and executive functions (EF). However, little is known about whether childhood social skills mediate the effects of the foster care intervention (FCG) and foster caregiving quality following early institutional rearing on EF and social skills in adolescence. The authors examined (a) whether children's social skills at 8 years mediate the impact of the FCG on the development of EF at ages 12 and 16 years, and (b) whether social skills and EF at ages 8 and 12 mediate the relation between caregiving quality in…
This paper provides an overview of the largest longitudinal investigation of institutionalized children less than 2 years old ever conducted. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is an ongoing randomized controlled trial of foster placement as an alternative to institutionalization in abandoned infants and toddlers being conducted in Bucharest, Romania.
In addition to describing the contexts in which this study is imbedded, the authors also provide an overview of the sample, the measures, and the intervention. The authors hope that the natural experiment of institutionalization will…
ABSTRACT
Objective: Early psychosocial deprivation increases the risk of later cognitive and psychiatric problems, but not all deprived children show these difficulties. Here, we examine the extent to which psychosocial deprivation increases the risk of later cognitive and psychiatric difficulties and the downstream consequences of this for risk-taking behavior in adolescence.
Method: Children abandoned to institutions early in life were randomly assigned to care-as-usual or a foster care intervention during infancy. A separate group of never-…
Abstract
Children who spend their early lives in institutions experience profound psychosocial deprivation that is associated with altered stress response system development. Here, we used data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children to examine whether caregiving quality and stressful life events (SLEs) in early adolescence (age 12) influence patterns of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity. Controlling for the effect of institutional care, higher caregiving quality at age 12 was…