The long‐term effects of institutional rearing, foster care intervention and disruptions in care on brain electrical activity in adolescence

Ranjan Debnath · Alva Tang · Charles H. Zeanah · Charles A. Nelson · Nathan A. Fox

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Child Welfare and Adoption Early Childhood Education and Development Child Abuse and Trauma

Abstract

Abstract Exposure to early psychosocial deprivation as a result of institutional care disrupts typical brain development. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) is the first longitudinal study to investigate the neurodevelopment of institutionalized infants randomized to a foster care (FCG) intervention versus care as usual (CAUG). Here, we present findings from a follow‐up assessment of brain electrical activity as indexed by resting EEG at age 16 years. In addition, we examined the effects of disruption of foster care placement (e.g. the number of moves among foster care placements) on brain electrical activity. Resting‐state EEG was collected from 48 CAUG, 46 FCG and 48 never institutionalized (NIG) control participants. Absolute (µV 2 ) and relative (proportion) power were computed from eyes closed, resting EEG data for theta, alpha and beta frequency bands. The CAUG displayed higher relative theta and lower relative alpha power compared to the FCG at 16 years of age. The FCG showed brain activity comparable to the NIG. The results further showed that disruptions following the original foster care placement had an adverse effect on brain electrical activity. Within the foster care group, there were no effects of age of placement on EEG power. Placement of children who have experienced early institutional rearing into stable foster care settings ensure long‐term improvement in brain functioning.

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References

2007Cognitive Recovery in Socially Deprived Young Children: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project 2000Children and youth in foster care: disentangling the relationship between problem behaviors and number of placements 2001Local Brain Functional Activity Following Early Deprivation: A Study of Postinstitutionalized Romanian Orphans 2007The Impact of Placement Stability on Behavioral Well-being for Children in Foster Care 2009Amygdala, hippocampal and corpus callosum size following severe early institutional deprivation: The English and Romanian Adoptees Study Pilot 2006Abnormal Brain Connectivity in Children After Early Severe Socioemotional Deprivation: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study 2003Designing research to study the effects of institutionalization on brain and behavioral development: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project 2012Variation in neural development as a result of exposure to institutionalization early in childhood

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