This study examined classifications of attachment in 42-month-old Romanian children (N = 169). Institutionalized since birth, children were assessed comprehensively, randomly assigned to care as usual (CAU) or to foster care, and compared to family-reared children. Attachment classifications for children in foster care were markedly different from those in the CAU. Importantly, children placed ...

Federal initiatives since 1996 have intensified the efforts of states to achieve adoption for children in foster care. For many waiting children, the path to adoption is long. The authors offer an economic analysis of adoption from foster care, with an emphasis on the reasons why achieving the goal of adoption for all waiting children may be so difficult. The authors then estimate the determina...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether foster children showed different autonomic nervous system activity on separation and reunion than control children. Autonomic nervous system activity in foster children was examined in relation to time in placement and disinhibited attachment. METHOD The sample included 60 foster and 50 control children between 2 and 7 years of age who participated with their ca...

We used structural MRI and EEG to examine brain structure and function in typically developing children in Romania (n = 20), children exposed to institutional rearing (n = 29), and children previously exposed to institutional rearing but then randomized to a high-quality foster care intervention (n = 25). In so doing, we provide a unique evaluation of whether placement in an improved environmen...

BACKGROUND We examined the effects of a foster care intervention on attention and emotion expression in socially deprived children in Romanian institutions. METHODS Institutionalized children were randomized to enter foster care or to remain under institutional care. Subsequently, the institutionalized and foster care groups, along with a community-based comparison group, were evaluated on em...

Young children who experience early adversity are at risk for problems regulating emotions, behavior, and physiology, which in turn place them at risk for later psychopathology, school problems, and peer relation difficulties. Therefore, early parenting interventions are critical in helping this vulnerable population develop adequate self-regulatory capabilities. Attachment and Biobehavioral Ca...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of stereotypies in children with a history of early institutional care, evaluate the efficacy of a foster care intervention compared with institutional care on the course of stereotypies, and describe correlates in language, cognition, and anxiety for children who exhibit stereotypies. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING Institutions in Bucha...

Re-entry to foster care generally refers to circumstances in which children who have been discharged from foster care to be reunified with their family of origin, adopted, or provided kinship guardianship are returned to foster care. In the context of the federal performance measurement system, re-entry refers specifically to a return to foster care following an unsuccessful reunification. The ...

Mental health problems are common in foster-children, and tools to measure the mental health of these children are needed. One candidate instrument is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a measure of child psychological adjustment that is increasingly being employed by Child Protection services. The aim of the current study was to examine the structural validity of the foster pa...

The use of illicit drugs among American youth is approaching epidemic proportions. The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) prepared by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that 8.9% of adolescents and adults age 12 years or older use illicit drugs. The most disturbing trend, however, is the number of children in foster care who abuse alcohol or d...