Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Sep;52(9):919-28.
doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02355.x. Epub 2011 Jan 19.

The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project

Nathan A Fox  1 , Alisa N Almas, Kathryn A Degnan, Charles A Nelson, Charles H Zeanah
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The effects of severe psychosocial deprivation and foster care intervention on cognitive development at 8 years of age: findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project

Nathan A Fox et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Previous reports from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project suggested that children removed from institutions and placed into intervention displayed gains in IQ relative to children randomized to remain in institutional care.

Method: The current report presents data from the 8-year follow-up of these children. One hundred and three of the original 136 children in the study were tested with the WISC IV.

Results: Results reveal continued benefit from the intervention even though many of the children in both the intervention and control groups were no longer residing in their initial placements. Gains in IQ were particularly evident for those children who remained with their intervention family. There were also modest timing effects such that children placed earlier displayed higher scores on the WISC processing speed subscale. Early placement was also a significant predictor of a profile of stable, typical IQ scores over time.

Conclusion: These data suggest the continued importance of early intervention and the negative effects of severe psychosocial deprivation on the development of IQ scores across early childhood.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
WISC Scores at 8 Years of Age for Children Currently Living in BEIP Foster Care, Children Currently Living in Institutions, and Children Currently Living in Government Foster Care
Figure 2
Figure 2
WISC Scores at 8 Years of Age for FCG Children Currently Living in BEIP Foster Care and FCG Children Currently Living in Other Arrangements
Figure 3
Figure 3
Two Profiles of CAU Children’s IQ Scores across Childhood
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Bauer DJ, Curran PJ. The integration of continuous and discrete latent variable models: Potential problems and promising opportunities. Psychological Methods. 2004;9:3–9. - PubMed
    1. Bowlby J. World Health Organization Monograph, 2. World Health Organization; Geneva: 1951. Maternal care and mental health. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bzoch KR, League R. Assessing language skills in infancy. University Park Press; Baltimore: 1971.
    1. Cassidy J, Marvin RS, with the MacArthur Attachment Working Group . Attachment organization in preschool children: Coding guidelines. 4th ed. University of Virginia; 1992. Unpublished manusript.
    1. Castle J, Groothues MA, Bredenkamp BA, Beckett C, O’Connor T, Rutter M, the ERA study team Effects of qualities of early institutional care on cognitive attainment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1999;69:424–437. - PubMed

Publication types