| Reference code: | PT/FB/BL-2006-013.12 |
| Location: | Arquivo PCA - Pasta 15/2006
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Title:
| Attachment disordered behaviours in Portuguese institutionally-reared infants
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| Publication year: | 2010
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URL:
| http://icis2010.isisweb.org/schedule/searchview2.cfm?author=11225
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| Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT:
For the past sixty years, clinicians and researchers have documented the deleterious effects of institutional rearing on the development of young children. While there has been much research on the effects of institutionalization, there are limits to the understanding of (a) the conditions under which such care undermines child functioning, and (b) the mechanisms by which those effects occur. Our study is focused on infants’ attachment disordered behaviors assessed six months (at least) after their admission in institutions. Our aim is to analyze the associations between these disturbances and both children' characteristics (temperament, cortisol levels and diurnal variation and cognitive development) and contextual variables (caregiver’s interactive behaviors with the infant and quality of institutional context).
METHOD:
Sixty-children aged between 12 and 30 months and their principal caregivers were assessed in the Strange Situation procedure (SSP; Ainsworth et al., 1978) in terms of attachment (dis)organization. Moreover, these videos were independently coded with the Rating of Infant- Stranger Engagement (RISE; Lyons-Ruth et al, 2009) for assessing infant’s indiscriminate attachment behaviors by comparing their engagement with the stranger with the behavior exhibited toward the caregiver, Temperament was assessed based on the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ; Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury) and the Bayley Scales III (Bayley, 2005) were used to assess children's cognitive development. Daily saliva samples for infants’cortisol levels determination were also carried out. Caretaker' sensitivity was assessed through an interactive task with the infant, based on a measure proposed by Egeland, Erikson, Clemenhagen-Moon, Hiester, & Korsmacher (1990). The quality of the institutional context was measured based on an adapted version from Graham, Hogan, White, & Chiricos (2003) focused on the quality of equipment for children’s development, the quality of daily routines and activities with the children and the involvement and stability of the care provided by the caretakers to the infant.
RESULTS:
Data analysis is in progress but preliminary data shows that most of the infants reveal low level of cognitive functioning (82% below the 50th percentile). Three months after their admission, 59% of the infants were perceived by their caretakers as showing a difficult temperament and 42% exhibited disturbed social-emotional behaviours. In addition, infants show high levels of daily cortisol production and some of them tend to present an atypical cortisol circadian rhythm, without a diurnal decline from awakening to evening levels. The coding of infant attachment disorders behaviors and of the quality of context are currently underway.
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| Accessibility: | Document exists in file
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Copyright/Reproduction:
| By permission
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Language:
| eng
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Author:
| Soares, I.
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Secondary author(s):
| Silva, J., Marques, S., Baptista, J., Mesquita, A. R., Dias, P., Henriques, M. R., Martins, C., Carlson, E., Lyons-Ruth, K.
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Document type:
| Online abstract
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Number of reproductions:
| 1
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Reference:
| Soares, I., Silva, J., Marques, S., Baptista, J., Mesquita, A. R., ... Lyons-Ruth, K. (2010, March). Attachment disordered behaviours in Portuguese institutionally-reared infants. Poster presented at the 17th Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, Blatimore, USA. Abstract retrieved from http://icis2010.isisweb.org/schedule/searchview2.cfm?author=11225
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| Indexed document: | No
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| Keywords: | Indiscriminate attachment behavior / Attachment disorganization / Institutionally reared children
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