Table 6.
Social Competence and Social Problems
| Study | Country of origin | Severity of deprivation | Age at assessment | N | Construct measured | Outcome measure | Age at adoption: Distribution | Age at adoption: Measurement | Statistical test | Significant effect of age at adoption? | Form of the relationship? | Relationship with other variables? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive Results | ||||||||||||
| Ames (1997) | Romania | Globally depriving | most 4.5y; some 5.5–9y | 46 | adaptive and personal-social problems | Gesell test (experimenter tested) | 8–68m; Md = 18.5m1 | continuous1 | correlation | yes | — | — |
| Romania | Globally depriving | most 4.5y; some 5.5–9y | 46 | social behavior problems | Factor derived from SSRS, PBQ, & CBCL (parent-report) | 8–68m; Md = 18.5m1 | continuous1 | correlation | yes | — | — | |
| Camras, Perlman, Wismer Fries, & Pollack (2006) | China2, Eastern Europe | — | 4–5.5y | 41 | emotion identification | Emotion Situation Task; Emotion Identification Task (experimenter tested) | Chinese: M = 14m, SD = 4.9m; Eastern European: M = 19.1m, SD = 11.6m | continuous | correlation | yes | — | — |
| Cederblad, Höök, Irhammer, & Merke (1999) | Multiple | — | 13–27y | 147 | social problems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | 54% < 7m; 30% > 1y | < 6m, > 6m; | ANOVA | yes | — | — |
| Gunnar, van Dulmen, & the International Adoption Project Team (2007) | Multiple | — | 4–18y | 899 | social problems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | M = 29.5m, SD = 30.7m | < 24m, > 24m | logistic regression | yes | — | — |
| Hawk & McCall (2011) | mostly Russia | Socially-emotionally depriving | 6–18y | 316 | social problems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | 3.3–57.7m; M = 16m, SD = 11.4m | < 18m, > 18m | ANOVA, MANOVA, not specified | yes | step function at 18m | — |
| Merz & McCall (2010) | mostly Russia | Socially-emotionally depriving | 6–18y | 342 | social problems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | M = 16.4m, SD = 11.75m | < 9, 9–17m, ≥ 18m; < 18m, > 18m | chi square; hierarchical multiple regression | yes | probable step function at 18m | effect is especially prominent for older-at-assessment group (12–18y) |
| Mixed Results | ||||||||||||
| Habersaat, Tessier, & Pierrehumbert (2011) | Multiple | — | 12–18y | 350 | social problems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | 83 < 6m, 52 6–12m, 43 12–24m, 172 > 24m | < 6m, 6–12m, 12–24m, > 24m | — | yes, for < 6m and > 24m; no for < 12m and > 12m | — | — |
| Nielsen, Coleman, Guinn, & Robb (2004) | Ug and a | Various levels of deprivation | 1–3y | 33 | range of facial expressions; affect variability | observation of free play | 3m–3y; M = 1.5y, SD = .67y3 | < 1y, 1–2y, 2–3y3 | MANCOVA | yes: only for interaction | — | multivariate interaction between duration of institutionalization and contact with relatives; univariate effects were ns |
| Ug and a | Various levels of deprivation | 1–3y | 33 | prosocial behavior | observation of free play | 3m–3y; M = 1.5y, SD = .67y3 | < 1y, 1–2y, 2–3y3 | ANCOVA | no | — | — | |
| Tan & Camras (2011) | China2 | Socially-emotionally depriving4 | M = 6.9y, SD = 2.9y | 869 | social skills | SSRS (parent-report) | M = 15.6m, SD = 13.9m | continuous | regression | Total score: marginal; yes for some subscales | — | — |
| China2 | Socially-emotionally depriving4 | M = 6.9y, SD = 2.9y | 869 | social skills | SSRS (teac herreport) | M = 15.6m, SD = 13.9m | continuous | regression | Total score: yes; yes for some subscales | — | — | |
| Null Results | ||||||||||||
| Barcons-Castel, Fornieles-Deu, & Costas-Moragas (2011) | Multiple | — | 6–11y | 52 | social skills | BASC subscale (parent & self-report) | 8–84m; M = 28.75m, SD = 21.42m | < 12m, 13–36m, > 37m | unifactorial ANOVA | no | — | — |
| Multiple | — | 6–11y | 52 | leadership | BASC subscale (parent & self-report) | 8–84m; M = 28.75m, SD = 21.42m | < 12m, 13–36m, > 37m | unifactorial ANOVA | no | — | — | |
| Dalen & Rygold (2006) | China2 | — | 7–13y | 77 | social skills | SSRS (teacherreport) | 2m–52m; M = 6.88, SD = 9.28 | — | — | no | — | — |
| Tan (2006) | China2 | Socially-emotionally depriving4 | 6–8y | 115 | social probems | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | < 2y | continuous | regression | no | — | — |
| Verhulst, Althaus, & Versluis-Den Bieman (1990) | Multiple | — | 6–21y | 16,134 | social competence | CBCL subscale (parent-report) | 513 0–6m, 221 7–12m, 329 13–24m, 311 25–36m, 278 37–48m, 198 49–60m, 156 61–72m, 142 73–125m | < 6m, 7–12m, 13–24m, 25–36m, 37–48m, 49–60m, 61–72m, 73–125m | ANCOVA | no | — | — |
Note. Top section includes positive results, middle section includes mixed results, and bottom section includes null results.
SSRS = Social Skills Rating System, PBQ = Preschool Behavior Questionnaire, CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist, BASC = Behavioral Assessment System for Children, m = months, y = years, M = mean, Md = median, SD = standard deviation
1
This study used time in the orphanage instead of age at adoption; these two variables were correlated at r = .97
2
The vast majority of children adopted from China are female
3
This study assessed children who were still institutionalized, so duration of institutionalization was assessed rather than age at adoption
4
These articles did not provide information about the conditions of these institutions, but other studies from the same authors on the same sample did describe the severity of the deprivation