Coping with the effects of deprivation : Development and upbringing of Romanian adoptees in the Netherlands

Abstract

This thesis describes the effects of early life deprivation on Romanian adopted children in the Netherlands. These children have been exposed to (severe) deprivation in the period they have spend in Romanian children’s homes or hospitals. For a group of 72 families, who had adopted 80 Romanian children, the developmental and behavioral problems of the children, and the parenting burden of the adoptive parents were assessed. The children displayed symptoms of trauma (20%), autism (16%) and ADHD (15%). Forty-one (51%) of the 80 children that participated in our study showed symptoms of behavioral problems to an extent that they scored within the clinical or borderline range of the Child Behavior Checklist, in which case professional support is advised. The behavioral problems changed little over a period of five years. The percentage of children in special education did increase from 31% to 47%, in both cases a much higher percentage than in the normal Dutch population. The parenting burden was higher in these families than in a non-adoptive norm group, but the levels of parenting satisfaction were the same. Up to a certain extent, the strengths of the adoptive parents appeared to compensate for the elevated parenting burden. To gain more insight in the way the problems of these children were dealt with, qualitative analyses were done. For 18 children with severe behavioral problems, and 15 children with little to no behavioral problems, the parents were interviewed. In addition, the teachers (n=17) and mental health workers (n=12) of the children in the group with severe behavioral problems were interviewed. The interviews with the parents revealed that they applied a highly structured, very consistent, and warm and accepting approach towards their children, as this seemed to work best. Parents of these deprived children invested much time and effort in the upbringing. The parents of children with severe behavioral problems indicated that they experienced difficulties in finding appropriate professional help; the process of finding help was long and tiresome for most of them. The teachers (mostly from schools for special education) and mental health workers also emphasized the importance of a consistent and structured approach towards the children. They also indicated that they did not always feel they were sufficiently equipped to deal with the specific problems of deprived children, and did not know where to gain expertise on this subject. It is recommended that parents who adopt a deprived child should receive structured aftercare, and that the teachers and mental health workers involved in the care for these children should have easy access to expertise and relevant information on the possible consequences of early life deprivation.