[Attachment and child development in a residential institution in Kinshasa]

Attachment proves the child's need for a presence as well as physical and psychological protection. It contributes to the development of social and emotional skills. However, the relation between attachment, cognitive development, and physical development remains to be established.

To evaluate the effect of the quality of attachment on the cognitive and physical development of children placed in institutions for abandoned children in Kinshasa through a first study of this kind in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Eighty-four participants, aged 4-7 years, 42 abandoned children placed in residential institutions and 42 children living in families. The evaluation focused on the quality of attachment, cognitive performance, and physical development of these children.

attachment story completion task (ASCT), Raven's colored progressive matrices (CPM) and growth vision. The Student t-test was used to compare the children's quality of attachment, cognitive performance, and physical development.

For the ASCT, secure attachment was more frequently found among children living in families (66.7%) than in institutions (33.3%). The CPM showed obtained a higher mean value (19.3) for children living in a family than for children living in institutions (13.3). Moreover, for children with secure attachment, the mean CPM value and height-for-age ratio were, respectively, 83.7% in family situations and 73.1% in institutions. The mean values for children with insecure attachment were lower than for those with secure attachment in families (80.7%) and institutions (70.9%). However, despite the quality of attachment, the mean values obtained in families were higher than those obtained in institutions.

These results suggest that the child's development, both cognitive and physical, depends on the quality of attachment. Life in the family gives better potentialities than life in an institution regardless of the quality of attachment.