Audet, Karyn N.

Toddlers' helping has been interpreted as early evidence of cooperation and altruism. We consider whether this important social activity might, instead, be due to toddlers' interest in participating in the activity of others, and we illustrate this possibility with diary observations of infants' social and communicative development. This alternative view of toddlers' helping as one manifestation of a more‐general tendency for social engagement requires a different approach to the explanation of this aspect of social development. We argue for a relational developmental systems account of the emergence and further development of infants' social and emotional engagement leading to toddlers' helping.

We examined inattention/overactivity (I/O) over time and in relation to caregiving in three matched groups: (1) Romanian Orphans (RO) with a minimum of eight months’ deprivation prior to adoption, (2) Early Adopted (EA) children adopted from Romania prior to age four months, and (3) Canadian Born (CB) non-adopted children. Comparisons among groups at 4.5, 10.5, and 17 years of age revealed significantly greater I/O in the Romanian Orphan than Canadian Born group at all ages, and greater than the Early Adopted group at ages 4.5 and 10.5. Canadian Born and Early Adopted groups did not differ. Rates of borderline clinical I/O among Romanian Orphans were significantly higher than rates found in the general population; Canadian Born and Early Adopted groups did not differ from the general population. Among Romanian Orphans, I/O was positively related to duration of deprivation; this association did not attenuate over time. Regressions indicated that I/O at age 10.5 was negatively related to warmth and stimulation in the adoptive home and attachment, after accounting for duration of deprivation and age 4.5 I/O. Authoritarian parenting was positively predictive of I/O in children with minimal deprivation and negatively predictive in children with extensive deprivation. Attachment was negatively predictive of I/O in children with less than 19 months’ deprivation but unrelated to I/O in those with more than 19 months’ deprivation.

Eighty adolescents (39 male, mean age = 15.74 years) adopted from Romanian institutions in early childhood rated their own and their adoptive parents’ communicative openness, their knowledge of Romanian culture, and positive and negative feelings concerning birth parents, being placed for adoption, and being adopted. Adolescents were moderately comfortable talking about their adoptions but perceived their parents to be very comfortable. Nearly 40% reported no familiarity with Romanian culture. Youth with more familiarity with Romanian culture were more communicatively open and had more positive adoption identities. Greater communicative openness was also associated with more positive adoption identities. Gender and age at adoption differences are reported.

We examined behavior problems in 80 adolescents (39 male; mean age = 15.74 years) adopted in early childhood by Canadians from globally depriving Romanian institutions. Overall, rates of clinically significant behavior problems were comparable to rates found in younger postinstitutionalized adopted children. The association between duration of deprivation before adoption and behavior problems indicated relatively less lasting impact of deprivation on the behavior problems of adolescents who were adopted prior to 2 years of age. Measures of attachment, communicative openness about adoption, and exposure to culture of origin, which have been theoretically and, to a lesser extent, empirically linked to adjustment in postinstitutionalized adoptees were unrelated despite their apparent common conceptual link to sensitive parenting. Attachment and communicative openness were each significantly and negatively correlated with behavior problems; exposure to culture of origin was not. Hierarchical regressions revealed independent contributions of attachment and communicative openness to predicting behavior problems in postinstitutionalized adolescents.

The chapter, "Protecting the rights of International ‘orphans’: evaluating the alternatives" was written by the listed authors including Karyn Audet (Douglas College Faculty). Consisting of thirteen essays by prominent scholars, this volume is an in-depth and interdisciplinary exploration of the significance of children's rights, and a tremendous resource for those working with children and youth in institutional and educational settings. --From publisher description.

This longitudinal study examined the potential mitigating effects of the adoptive home environment on inattention and overactivity (I/O) in children adopted from Romanian orphanages. Three groups were studied: (1) Children who experienced at least 8 months of deprivation in an orphanage prior to being adopted to British Columbia (RO group), (2) Children adopted to British Columbia from Romanian orphanages prior to 4-months-of-age (EA group), and (3) Canadian born non-adopted children (CB group). Comparisons of rates of I/O among the 3 group revealed that at ages 4.5, 10.5 and 16-years RO children had more difficulties with I/O than either the EA or CB children. Within the post-institutionalized groups, I/O was related to duration of deprivation and this association was not found to significantly attenuate over time, indicating that duration of deprivation continued to have an influence on the children’s I/O well into adolescence. Several aspects of the adoptive home environment (parenting practices, parent-child attachment, parent-child interaction styles and nurturance and stimulation) were found to significantly correlate with the children’ I/O. Regression analyses indicated that parent-child attachment and parenting practices account for significant variance in I/O beyond that accounted for by duration of deprivation.