Family Environment and Development of Children in Institutional Adoptions
Our data suggest that a cohesive and expressive family environment moderated the effects of pre-adoption adversity on young children's cognitive and behavioral development. Early assessment of a child's temperament and parenting background may help optimize the fit between parenting style, family environment, and child development.
Keil, MF, Leahu, A., Rescigno, M. et al. Family environment and development in institutionally adopted children. Resolutions in Pediatrics (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-01325-1
Commentary
This study is about tracking institutional children after they are adopted. The children who actually receive institutional care show significant improvement, and recovery of growth and developmental milestones is said to be incomplete. Thus, there is a lack of data on the risks and protective factors for children who are adopted into institutions. The study evaluated adopted children and non-adopted controls over a two-year period using physical measurements, endocrine and bone age assessments, neurocognitive tests, and behavioral questionnaires. The results showed that the adopted children had significant deficits in growth, cognitive and developmental measures compared to the control group. However, residual deficits remained. Family cohesion and expressiveness were protective influences and associated with fewer behavioral problems, but increased family conflict and the importance of rules were associated with a greater risk of higher brain dysfunction.
Limitations of the study results include the small number of participants and the fact that only parental ratings of behavior were included in the measures of behavioral internalization, externalization, and executive functioning. And, given the alleged lack of salivary cortisol data, this small sample size should be considered a pilot study in the field of pediatric embryology.
In summary, the study suggests that an environment of conflict and rule enforcement in the homes of institutionalized children after they have been adopted for care may be associated with a greater risk of higher brain dysfunction, but the results are likely to be limited by limitations.
