Displaying 1 - 10 of 36
Background:
Recent international research has warned of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on vulnerable children. However, little is known regarding the in-care population. Objective: To find out how children in residential care perceived the influence of the COVID-19 lockdown in their everyday life, relationships and subjective well-being. Participants and setting: 856 children from 10 to 17 years old (Mage = 15.5, males = 71.2%, females = 28.8%) living in residential centres in Catalonia.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study. Children responded to an…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of an intervention created to stimulate the development of children under the age of seven, living in an institution for children without parental care in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the intervention was to match each child with one volunteer, trained to deliver three hours per week of individually tailored, play-based activities, for a minimum of one year.
16 children (6 boys) participated in the intervention. Three children dropped out after one month of the intervention due to their placement in foster families, so…
In this blog post, Anna Riatti - coordinator of the UNICEF Refugee and Migrant Response in Italy - describes how UNICEF is supporting refugee and migrant children in Italy in light of the COVID-19 crisis. This support includes remote counselling and psychological support for refugees and migrants, over the phone or online. This support extends to guardians and foster care families who need support and stress management.
Abstract
Childhood maltreatment is a major risk factor for emotional problems in adolescence and adulthood and has deleterious effects on cognitive functions such as working memory. A key aspect in the study of the cognitive and affective consequences of maltreatment is autobiographical memory, especially regarding the difficulty retrieving specific memories, known as overgeneral memory. In this study, autobiographical memory tests, working memory, and a depressive symptom assessment were administered to 48 adolescents in care with a history of maltreatment (22 abused and 26 neglected)…
Abstract
This study extends research on the effects of institutionalization—by examining the trajectories of cognitive, language and motor development of 64 Portuguese infants and toddlers across the first six months of institutionalization, while determining whether pre-institutional adversities and the stability and consistency of institutional care predict children’s development. At time of enrollment, 23.4%, 32.8% and 31.3% of the children were moderately to severely delayed, respectively, in their cognitive, linguistic and motor functioning. Developmental problems persisted after six…
Abstract
Objective
The objective was to determine if Spanish foster care children and Spanish non-foster children differ on sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), limited prosocial emotions (LPE), anxiety, depression, social and academic impairment measures and if the duration of foster care predicts a reduction in symptom and impairment differences between foster and non-foster care children.
Method
Foster care parents of 49 children (8 to 13 years, 57% girls) and non-foster care mothers and…
Abstract
Adoption involves strong emotions. From the adoptee’s point of view, adoption means not only the gain of a new family but also inevitable losses. This study aims at analyzing adoption-related feelings, which include the feelings of loss and the ensuing curiosity about the birth family and pre-adoption life. A total of 81 adopted adolescents, aged 12–22, adopted at 4 years of age, on average, participated in this study. The data were collected using the Questionnaire of Adoption-related Feelings and the Adopted Adolescents Interview, which allowed for the identification of the…
Adolescents placed in residental-care, due to their past adverse experiences of abandonment, abuse or neglect in the family of origin, are more vulnerable to emotonal-behavioral problems and showed rates of psychopathology that ranges between 71% - 76,2% (Jozefak et al., 2016). Emotonal-behavioral problems, in terms of internalizing (i.e. depression, anxiety, withdrawn) and externalizing symptoms (i.e. delinquency and aggressive behaviors) may be related to atachment and Emotonal Regulaton (ER) strategies, i.e. Cognitve Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression (John & Gross, 2004, Pace et…
Abstract
Background: Studying the subjective well-being (SWB) of children in out-of-home care is becoming important. However, there is a lack of results on the subjective well-being of children in kinship care. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the subjective well-being of children at the age of 12 years old in kinship and residential care and in the general population, taking into account gender differences.
Method: We administered the questionnaire used in the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being (ISCWeB) including two psychometric scales (OLS and PWI-SC…
Abstract
This study examined adopted adolescents’ levels of attachment security to parents and aggressiveness as compared to those of community nonadopted adolescents and of clinical nonadopted adolescents. Three different subsamples participated (n = 262): 101 community nonadopted adolescents (48.5% girls), 80 community adopted teens (65.0% girls), and 81 nonadopted counterparts (35.8% girls) who participated in a treatment program for youth with behavioral problems. There were no differences between community groups in attachment security or aggressiveness,…