Increased freezing and decreased positive affect in postinstitutionalized children

Abstract

Background Early neglect is associated with increased risk of internalizing disorders in humans and with increased fear behavior in animals. When children are adopted out of orphanages in which they experienced institutional neglect, anxiety and depressive disorders often are not seen until adolescence. What has not been examined is whether even young children adopted from institutional care exhibit heightened fear or behavioral inhibition. Method Children adopted between 15 and 35 months from institutional care were examined twice during their first year post-adoption and compared to children of the same age reared in their birth families. A modified version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery for Preschoolers was used with the children being exposed to two mechanical toys designed to be highly arousing and fear-eliciting. Because children in institutions tend to exhibit low levels of positive affect, the children were also examined during exposure to two positive stimuli. Sessions were videotaped and coded by observers blind to the study purpose. Results Post-institutionalized children froze more in fear vignettes and were less positive in both fear and positive vignettes than non-adopted children. Group differences did not diminish significantly from the first session to the next, 6 months later. Conclusions Children exposed to early institutional neglect exhibit emotional biases that are consistent with their previously demonstrated risk for the development of internalizing disorders.

Emotion regulation and cortisol reactivity during a social evaluative stressor: A study of post‐institutionalized youth

“…First, Tottenham et al, (2010) examined the extent to which the quality of performance suffered in emotionally arousing contexts, while Burkholder et al, (2016) and Stellern et al, (2014) examined whether children inhibited behavioral displays of fear reactivity and anxiety during emotional challenge. First, Tottenham et al, (2010) examined the extent to which the quality of performance suffered in emotionally arousing contexts, while Burkholder et al, (2016) and Stellern et al, (2014) examined whether children inhibited behavioral displays of fear reactivity and anxiety during emotional challenge.…”

“…Children adopted internationally after experiencing early institutional care (post-institutionalized [PI]) have been found to struggle academically, socially, and behaviorally (Hoksbergen, Rijik, Van Dijkum, & Teer Laak, 2004;Juffer & van Ijzendoorn, 2005;Tarullo & Gunnar, 2005;van IJzendoorn, Juffer, & Poelhuis, 2005). It has been argued that one reason for this is because they have difficulty regulating negative emotions (Burkholder, Koss, Hostinar, Johnson, & Gunnar, 2016;Smyke et al, 2007;Stellern, Esposito, Mliner, Pears, & Gunnar, 2014). Although research has suggested that PI children may have greater difficulty regulating their emotions than their peers, very little research has compared PI and never-institutionalized non-adopted (NA) children on emotion regulation abilities.…”

“…In the existing literature, Stellern et al (2014) found that soon after being adopted, PI children demonstrated more freezing behavior to a novel fear-eliciting task, thought to result from children having fewer skills and resources to deal with increased emotional arousal in a fear context (Zuddas, 2012). Tottenham et al (2010) examined emotion regulation in a small sample of 8-to 10-year-old PI youth by having them perform an emotional go-nogo task and examining their capacity to respond appropriately in the face of emotional stimuli, one way of assessing emotion regulation.…”

Social scaffolding of human amygdala-mPFCcircuit development

“…For example, at the group level, PI youth exhibit heightened trait anxiety and increased depressive symptoms, particularly in adolescence (Goff et al, 2013). On laboratory tests, PI youth are more likely to show behavioral interference from highly arousing emotional stimuli (Tottenham et al, 2010) and increased behavioral freezing in response to fear eliciting stimuli (Stellern, Esposito, Mliner, Pears, & Gunnar, 2014). …”

Transitions of Adoptive Parents: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Analysis

“…Families are faced with creating a new family script, reconciling new and old family relationships (Fontenot, 2007; Tasker & Wood, 2016). For those adopting internationally, there may be challenges related to caring for children and adolescents who have been institutionalized (Gunnar, Bruce, & Grotevant, 2000; Loman, Johnson, Quevedo, Lafavor, & Gunnar, 2014; Stellern, Esposito, Mliner, Pears, & Gunnar, 2014; Wiik et al, 2011). Domestic adoptions, such as foster care to adoption cases, may involve children who have experienced neglect and past trauma (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013).…”