Social and Family Relationships of ex-institutional Adolescents. Hodges and Tizard (1989)

Aim

To examine the effects of ex-institutional upbringing on attachments.

Design

Longitudinal research

Participants

31 ex-institutional children. All children had been in institutional care until the age of 2. At 2 they were either restored to their families and or adopted.

Children were compared to a comparison group of children who had always lived with their parents.

Procedure

Interviews, questionnaires and psychometric tests were conducted over a number of years. Data collected included: attachment to parents; relations with siblings and peer relationships.

Results

Adopted children were more attached to parents than those restored to a biological parent. Both groups required more adult attention and had more difficulty with social relationships than the comparison group.