Rutter et al (1998)

Aim: To investigate if the effects of institutionalization were reversible if the child was placed in a more nurturing environment. 

Method: Longitudinal study. Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very poor conditions before being adopted. Physical, cognitive & emotional development was assessed at age 4, 6, 11 & 15 years. The study also followed a control group of 52 adopted British children. 

Results:  1/2 of the orphans showed delayed intellectual development. At age 11 recovery rates were related to their age of adoption: Those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102. Those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86, & those adopted after the age of 2 had a mean IQ of 77.

Those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment. Symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess & social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults. 

Conclusion: The sooner the children were adopted, the faster their developmental progress.

G: Lacked generalisability as the extreme conditions of the Roman orphanages wasn’t typical and therefore can’t generalise your findings to everyone else. The unusual situational variables. :(

R: Replicability: Morison & Elwood found similar results with a group of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian parents. Suggests reliability. :) Longitudinal study -  allows us to look at the major effects of institutionalization more in-depth in the long term, some studies show that the effects may disappear after sufficient time and with suitable high-quality care. :)

A: Helps us to understand the effects of institutionalization - for example in orphanages, rather than having lots of caregivers for each child - they have a smaller number for the child, known as key workers. Having a key worker helps the child to avoid forming disinhibited attachments and form and develop normal attachments. :)

V: High internal validity - this study has fewer extraneous variables in comparison to other orphan studies where infants involved had experienced a lot of trauma before they were institutionalized - the children in the Roman Orphanage didn’t have these variables. :) 

E: Not ethical as they didn’t interfere with the adoption process - they knew that if the children were adopted earlier, they might have been more sociable - broke the deception rule? :(