Mediating factors that alter the effects of privation

Quality of care during.

Dontas et al 1985

15 babies aged 7-9 months 1 member of staff to attach to. 2 weeks after were visited at new homes found attachments had begun to form.

16 babies aged 5-12 months obeserved with familiar and unfamilar peers able to form attachment to carer found no behaviour effects of institutionalisation eg attention seeking found in Hodges and Tizard.

This shows how important it is for children 7-8 month to form attachment with staff.

Quality of care after.

Children who are placed in a loving environment after being in care develop better than those who are not. Kolvchova found that children need an opportunity to form a 1 to 1 attachment with someone who gives them a sufficient amount of attention. Hodges and Tizard found that adopted children were more attached to new parents than restored group due to the higher quality of care in their new homes.

Follow on experiences.

Quinton and Rutter compared 2 groups of 20 year old women. Half had been in care, other half were from the same area but not in care. care group with positive experiences at school and positive relationships/marriages overall fared better than those without. The care group was more like to have relationship breakdowns, and criminal records. They found that early adulthood experiences lead to different development pathways. Early experiences affect later life, good experiences can overcome early effects of privation

Age of child when removed from care.

Younger the child the better development cognitively and emotionally. For example Romanian orphans study by Rutter showed that adopted before 6 months had less disinhibited behaviour observed. Age is also important for language development. Good language catch up before puberty results in being less likely to develop language skills after 11/12 years of age

Quality during

Quality after

Follow on experiences

Age of child