HPA axis dysregulation in adult adoptees twenty years after severe institutional deprivation in childhood

There is clear evidence that early deprivation in the form of early institutional care affects children both immediately and long after they are removed from the institution. This article reviews t...

Early Deprivation Revisited: Contemporary Studies of the Impact on Young Children of Institutional Care

The neural circuitry associated with threat regulation in the absence of other people is well established. An examination of threat regulatory processes with people from different domains of an ind...

Social domain based modulation of neural responses to threat: The different roles of romantic partners versus friends

Background Institutional deprivation in early childhood is associated with neuropsychological deficits in adolescence. Using 20-year follow-up data from a unique natural experiment – the large-scale adoption of children exposed to extreme deprivation in Romanian institutions in the 1980s –we examined, for the first time, whether such deficits are still present in adulthood and whether they are associated with deprivation-related symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods
 Adult neuropsychological functioning was assessed across five domains (inhibitory control, emotion recognition, decision-making, prospective memory and IQ) in 70 previously institutionalized adoptees (mean age = 25.3, 50% female) and 22 non-deprived UK adoptees (comparison group, mean age = 24.6, 41% female). ADHD and ASD symptoms were assessed using parent-completed questionnaires. Results
 Early institutionalization was associated with impaired performance on all tasks in adulthood. Prospective memory deficits persisted after controlling for IQ. ADHD and ASD symptoms were positively correlated. After controlling for ASD symptoms, ADHD symptoms remained associated with deficits in IQ, prospective memory, proactive inhibition, decision-making quality and emotion recognition. ASD symptoms were not independently associated with neuropsychological deficits when accounting for their overlap with ADHD symptoms. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the link between childhood deprivation and adult ADHD symptoms was statistically explained by deprivation-related differences in adult IQ and prospective memory. Conclusions
 These results represent some of the most compelling evidence to date of the enduring power of early, time-limited childhood adversity to impair long-term neuropsychological functioning across the lifespan – effects that are linked specifically to deprivation-related adult ADHD symptoms.

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The impact of childhood deprivation on adult neuropsychological functioning is associated with ADHD symptom persistence

Previous studies have revealed that despite adversity in early childhood, after adoption intercountry adoptees show a substantial catch-up in physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development and...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0308575919841754

The relation between adult adoptees’ feelings about relinquishment, adoption and satisfaction with life:

Background Early-life institutional deprivation produces disinhibited social engagement (DSE). Portrayed as a childhood condition, little is known about the persistence of DSE-type behaviours into, presentation during, and their impact on, functioning in adulthood. Aims We examine these issues in the young adult follow-up of the English and Romanian Adoptees study. Method A total of 122 of the original 165 Romanian adoptees who had spent up to 43 months as children in Ceausescu's Romanian orphanages and 42 UK adoptees were assessed for DSE behaviours, neurodevelopmental and mental health problems, and impairment between ages 2 and 25 years. Results Young adult DSE behaviour was strongly associated with early childhood deprivation, with a sixfold increase for those who spent more than 6 months in institutions. However, although DSE overlapped with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms it was not, in itself, related to broader patterns of mental health problems or impairments in daily functioning in young adulthood. Conclusions DSE behaviour remained a prominent, but largely clinically benign, young adult feature of some adoptees who experienced early deprivation.

/pdf/adult-disinhibited-social-engagement-in-adoptees-exposed-to-170geaatxu.pdf

Adult disinhibited social engagement in adoptees exposed to extreme institutional deprivation: Examination of its clinical status and functional impact

Nicola H. Knights

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Adult disinhibited social engagement in adoptees exposed to extreme institutional deprivation: Examination of its clinical status and functional impact