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Inhibitory control and working memory in post-institutionalized children
Emily C Merz1, Robert B McCall, Amanda J Wright
1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 S. Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. emilymerz@gmail.com
Insights
Children adopted from Russian institutions later in life showed deficits in inhibitory control and working memory. These cognitive challenges persisted years after adoption, impacting behavior. Keywords: post-institutionalized children, cognitive development, adoption, working memory, inhibitory control.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Post-institutionalized (PI) children adopted from deprived environments often face developmental challenges.
- This study examines children from Russian institutions with psychosocial deprivation, focusing on inadequate caregiving despite adequate resources.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of early institutional deprivation on inhibitory control and working memory in adopted children.
- To compare cognitive performance based on age at adoption (before 9 months vs. after 14 months).
Main Methods:
- Assessed inhibitory control (stop-signal task) and working memory (spatial span task, spatial self-ordered search task) in PI children and a non-adopted comparison group.
- Grouped PI children by age at adoption (early: <9 months; late: >14 months).
- Controlled for age at assessment and analyzed associations with parent-rated behavior.
Main Results:
- Late-adopted PI children performed worse on stop-signal and spatial span tasks than early-adopted PI children.
- Late-adopted PI children showed poorer spatial span performance compared to non-adopted children; early-adopted PI children did not.
- Task performance correlated with parent-reported hyperactive-impulsive behavior.
Conclusions:
- Prolonged early institutional deprivation is linked to lasting difficulties in inhibitory control and working memory.
- The timing of adoption is critical, with later adoption associated with greater cognitive deficits.
- These cognitive impairments may manifest as behavioral issues in everyday contexts.
Abstract:
Inhibitory control and working memory were examined in post-institutionalized (PI) children adopted into United States families from Russian institutions. The PI sample originated from institutions that were less severely depriving than those represented in previous studies and approximated the level of psychosocial deprivation, which is characterized by adequate physical resources but a lack of consistent and responsive caregiving. PI children (N = 75; 29 male) ranged in age from 8-17 years (M = 12.97; SD = 3.03) and were grouped according to whether they were adopted after 14 months or before 9 months. A non-adopted comparison group (N = 133; 65 male) ranged in age from 8-17 years (M = 12.26; SD = 2.75). PI children adopted after 14 months of age displayed poorer performance on the stop-signal and spatial span tasks relative to PI children adopted before 9 months of age after controlling for age at assessment. The two PI groups did not differ in their performance on a spatial self-ordered search task. Older-adopted PI children also showed poorer spatial span task performance compared to non-adopted children, but younger-adopted PI children did not. Task performance was significantly associated with parent-rated hyperactive-impulsive behavior in everyday contexts. These findings suggest that exposure to prolonged early institutional deprivation may be linked with inhibitory control and working memory difficulties years after adoption.
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