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 Jul-Aug;82(4):1040-6.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01604.x. Epub 2011 Jun 16.

Effect of foster care on young children's language learning

Jennifer Windsor  1 , Joann P Benigno, Christine A Wing, Patrick J Carroll, Sebastian F Koga, Charles A Nelson 3rd, Nathan A Fox, Charles H Zeanah
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of foster care on young children's language learning

Jennifer Windsor et al. Child Dev. 2011 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

This report examines 174 young children's language outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, the first randomized trial of foster placement after institutional care. Age of foster placement was highly correlated with language outcomes. Placement by 15 months led to similar expressive and receptive language test scores as typical age peers at 30 and 42 months. Placement from 15 to 24 months also led to dramatic language improvement. In contrast, children placed after 24 months had the same severe language delays as children in institutional care. Language samples at 42 months confirmed that placement after 24 months led to lower expressive skill.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlation between RDLS Expressive percentage scores and placement age for the foster group at 42 months (n = 49).
Figure 2
Figure 2
RDLS Expressive and Receptive z scores by placement age for the foster group at 30 and 42 months. ≤ 15 = placed by 15 months, ≥ 16 = 16 to 24 months, ≥ 25 = 25 to 28 months, ≥ 29 = after 29 months; IG = institution group. Foster subgroups with a different superscript were significantly different (a = .05); Expressive and Receptive means were equivalent.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bayley N. Bayley scales of infant development-II. Psychological Corporation; San Antonio, TX: 1993.
    1. Bzoch KR, League R. Assessing language skills in infancy. University Park Press; Baltimore, MD: 1971.
    1. Cohen NJ, Lojkasek M, Zadeh ZY, Pugliese P, Kiefer H. Children adopted from China: A prospective study of their growth and development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2008;49:458–468. - PubMed
    1. Croft C, Beckett C, Rutter M, Castle J, Colvert E, Groothues C, et al. Early adolescent outcomes of institutionally deprived and non-deprived adoptees. II: Language as a protective factor and a vulnerable outcome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2007;48:31–44. - PubMed
    1. Devescovi A, Caselli MC, Marchione D, Pasqualetti P, Reilly J, Bates E. A crosslinguistic study of the relationship between grammar and lexical development. Journal of Child Language. 2005;32:759–786. - PubMed

Publication types