Nelson Charles A, Zeanah Charles H, Fox Nathan A, Marshall Peter J, Smyke Anna T, Guthrie Donald
Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Science. 2007 Dec 21;318(5858):1937-40. doi: 10.1126/science.1143921.
In a randomized controlled trial, we compared abandoned children reared in institutions to abandoned children placed in institutions but then moved to foster care. Young children living in institutions were randomly assigned to continued institutional care or to placement in foster care, and their cognitive development was tracked through 54 months of age. The cognitive outcome of children who remained in the institution was markedly below that of never-institutionalized children and children taken out of the institution and placed into foster care. The improved cognitive outcomes we observed at 42 and 54 months were most marked for the youngest children placed in foster care. These results point to the negative sequelae of early institutionalization, suggest a possible sensitive period in cognitive development, and underscore the advantages of family placements for young abandoned children.
在一项随机对照试验中，我们将在福利院抚养的弃儿与被安置在福利院但随后转至寄养家庭的弃儿进行了比较。生活在福利院的幼儿被随机分配至继续在福利院抚养或转至寄养家庭，并且对他们的认知发展进行追踪直至54个月龄。留在福利院的儿童的认知结果明显低于从未在福利院生活过的儿童以及从福利院转出并进入寄养家庭的儿童。我们在42个月和54个月时观察到的认知结果改善情况在被安置到寄养家庭的最小儿童中最为显著。这些结果表明了早期机构养育的负面后遗症，提示了认知发展中可能存在的敏感期，并强调了家庭安置对年幼弃儿的优势。
