The orphans of Eritrea: a comparison study

Area of Science:

• Child psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Social work in conflict zones

Background:

• Children in Eritrea face chronic stress from war and drought.
• Orphans have lost parents to war violence and live in crowded orphanages.
• Refugee children live with families but share similar stressors.

Purpose of the Study:

• Compare social-emotional state and cognitive development.
• Assess outcomes for orphans in group care versus refugees in families.
• Investigate the impact of severe adversity on child development.

Main Methods:

• Comparative study of 74 Eritrean children aged 4-7 years.
• Assessed social-emotional state and cognitive development.
• Compared children in institutional group care (orphans) with those in family care (refugees).

Main Results:

• Few clinically significant differences between groups.
• Orphans exhibited more behavioral symptoms of emotional distress.
• Orphans demonstrated more advanced cognitive and language performance.

Conclusions:

• Child-centered group care can be a viable alternative for unaccompanied children.
• Findings challenge expectations regarding the impact of parental loss and institutionalization.
• Contextual factors in low-resource settings influence child welfare outcomes.