Elinor W. Ames

Problems Reported by Parents of Romanian Orphans Adopted to British Columbia

Behaviour problems in Romanian orphans adopted to Canada were examined through parents’ interview reports of specific problems, and children’s scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, Edelbrock, & Howell, 1987) completed by their parents. Three groups of children were studied. Romanian orphanage (RO) children had spent at least 8 months in a Romanian orphanage. Parents’ reports of RO children’s problems were compared to parent reports from 2 comparison groups: (1) Canadian-born children (CB) who were not adopted and never institutionalised; and (2) children who would have gone to a Romanian orphanage had they not been adopted before 4 months of age (Romanian Comparison: RC). RO children scored higher than CB and RC children for Total problems and Internalizing problems on the CBCL. No significant differences were found for any group comparison on Externalizing problems. CBCL scores were positively correlated with RO children’s total time in orphanage. According to parent interview, RO children had more eating problems, medical problems, and stereotyped behaviour problems than both CB and RC children. These problems were distinctive ones, rarely if ever being reported for CB or RC children. It is suggested that these distinctive RO problems arise out of a normal developmental base, and reflect either continuations of orphanage behaviours, reactions to stimuli different from those experienced in orphanage, or lack of opportunity for development or learning within the orphanage.

Age Differences in Infants' Attention to Patterns of Different Complexities

Infants 3 weeks, 8 weeks, and 14 weeks old were presented with checkerboard patterns which differed in the number of squares they contained. The older the infants, the more complex was the checkerboard that they looked at longest. This result does not appear to depend on changes in visual acuity or accommodation related to age.

Parenting Stress in Families Adopting Children From Romanian Orphanages

Parenting stress was evaluated in families that adopted children who were institutionalized for at least 8 months in a Romanian orphanage (RO group) and two comparison groups: families with Canadian-born, nonadopted children (CB group) and families that adopted Romanian orphans who had spent less than 4 months in Romanian orphanages (RC group). Parenting stress, assessed using parent reports on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (Abidin, 1990), was found to be higher in the RO group than in the comparison groups. Predictors of parenting stress in the RO group included aspects of child behavior such as attachment security and number of behavior problems, as well as family factors such as income, mothers age, and number of Romanian children adopted. Of the various predictors, the relationship between parenting stress and behavior problems was particularly strong. The findings are discussed with respect to their implications for special needs adoptions.