Article Summary of Kreppner - 610 Words

In a longitudinal, correlational study, Kreppner et al. (2007) investigated whether early deprivation causes functional impairment and which features of early deprivation contribute to impairment. Kreppner, et al. (2007) chose four hypotheses derived from the current body of research: first, that the outcome would depend on the post-adoption environment because of its longer duration; second, that biological damage occurs during early deprivation so any resulting impairment would be still present at age 11; third, that deprivation beyond a sensitive period would be the decisive factor as to whether there was impairment at age 11; fourth, that impairment would be due to differences in individual resilience. Kreppner et al. (2007) selected Romanian children adopted into the UK before 43 months of age; of these, 144 were raised in institutions and 21 were family raised–this group was used as a second control group. In addition, 52 children born in the UK but adopted before 6 months of age were also selected. To assess outcome, the children were measured at ages 6 and 11 in 7 areas of functioning. Impairment was defined as falling below the 85th percentile in a given area, except in the domain of autistic features, for which a clinical diagnosis was required. Multiple impairment was defined as falling below the cut-off in two or more of the areas. To validate the outcome measures, parents were surveyed as to the extent that mental health services and special education