DOI

The current study addressed whether two institution-wide interventions in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that increased caregiver sensitivity (Training Only: TO) or both caregiver sensitivity and consistency (Training plus Structural Changes: T+SC) promoted better socioemotional and cognitive development than did a No Intervention (NoI) institution during the first year of life for children who were placed soon after birth. It also assessed whether having spent less than 9 versus 9 to 36 months with a family prior to institutionalization was related to children's subsequent socioemotional and cognitive development within these three institutions. The Battelle Developmental Inventory (J. Newborg, J.R. Stock, L. Wnek, J. Guidubaldi, & J. Svinicki, 1988) was used to assess the socioemotional and cognitive functioning of children in NoI (n = 95), TO (n = 104), and T+SC (n = 86) at two to three time points during their first 6 to 12 months of residency. Results suggest that improving caregiver sensitivity can improve the cognitive development of infants in the first year of institutionalization whereas improving caregiver consistency in addition to sensitivity is more beneficial for socioemotional development than is sensitivity alone. Similarly, for children in T+SC, longer time with a family prior to institutionalization (consistent caregiver, unknown sensitivity) was associated with better socioemotional, but not cognitive, baseline scores and more rapid cognitive than socioemotional development during institutionalization. These results suggest caregiver sensitivity is more highly related to cognitive development whereas caregiver consistency is more related to socioemotional development in the first years of life.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)432-448
Number of pages17
JournalInfant Mental Health Journal
Volume39
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2018

    Research areas

  • caregiver intervention, hierarchical linear modeling, HLM, institución, institution, Institution, intervención de quien presta el cuidado, Intervention für Pflegepersonal, Intervention sur les Personnes prenant soin des enfants, orfanato, orphanage, Orphelinat, Waisenhaus, المؤسسة ، دار الأيتام ، تدخل الرعاية ، HLM, 児童養護施設, 孤兒院, 施設, 機構, 照顧者干預, 養育者の介入, ATTACHMENT, INFANT DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL INTERVENTION, ORPHANAGE, INVENTORY, YOUNG-CHILDREN, CONCURRENT, PARENTAL CARE, PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN, CONTINUITY

    Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

ID: 37161027