An estimated 8 million children worldwide live in institutions where they experience neglect and deprivation. Last fall, a study of children reared in Romanian orphanages reported high levels of mental health problems when they reached adolescence. In particular, they had more difficult behaviors such as rule-breaking, excessive arguing with authority figures, stealing or assaulting peers. But if they were placed early with carefully vetted foster families through the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) , these problems were reduced.
A new BEIP study, published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined cognitive functioning. It found that institutionalized children, at ages 8 and 16, also have impaired memory and executive functioning compared with peers placed early in foster homes. …