Adoptees' responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation.

Autor/inn/en	Sonuga-Barke, Edmund; Kennedy, Mark; Golm, Dennis; Knights, Nicky; Kovshoff, Hanna; Kreppner, Jana; Kumsta, Robert; Maughan, Barbara; O'Connor, Thomas G.; Schlotz, Wolff
Titel	Adoptees' responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Die Reaktionen der Adoptierten auf die Trennung von ihrem Adoptivelternteil und die Wiedervereinigung mit diesen im Alter von 4 Jahren ist mit einem langfristigen Fortbestehen der Autismussymptome nach frühen schweren institutionellen Entbehrungen verbunden.
Quelle	In: Development and psychopathology, 32 (2020) 2, S. 631-640 PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0954-5794; 1469-2198
DOI	10.1017/S0954579419000506
Schlagwörter	Soziokulturelle Benachteiligung; Autismus; Frühkindliche Erfahrung; Kognitive Störung; Kindheit; Adoption; Kind; Psychische Gesundheit; Entwicklung; Problem
Abstract	Institutionally deprived young children often display distinctive patterns of attachment, classified as insecure/other (INS/OTH), with their adoptive parents. The associations between INS/OTH and developmental trajectories of mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms were examined. Age 4 attachment status was determined for 97 Romanian adoptees exposed to up to 24 months of deprivation in Romanian orphanages and 49 nondeprived UK adoptees. Autism, inattention/overactivity and disinhibited-social-engagement symptoms, emotional problems, and IQ were measured at 4, 6, 11, and 15 years and in young adulthood. Romanian adoptees with over 6 months deprivation (Rom)6) were more often classified as INS/OTH than UK and Romanian adoptees with less than 6 months deprivation combined. INS/OTH was associated with cognitive impairment at age 4 years. The interaction between deprivation, attachment status, and age for autism spectrum disorder assessment was significant, with greater symptom persistence in Rom)6 INS/OTH(+) than other groups. This effect was reduced when IQ at age 4 was controlled for. Age 4 INS/OTH in Rom)6 was associated with worse autism spectrum disorder outcomes up to two decades later. Its association with cognitive impairment at age 4 is consistent with INS/OTH being an early marker of this negative developmental trajectory, rather than its cause. (ZPID).
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie, Trier
Update	2025/2