Cognitive Development and Adaptive Skills of Children in Institutions of Russian Federation

In present study we examine cognitive development and adaptive skills of children raised in institutions (called Baby Homes) in Russian Federation. Previously it was shown that children in institutions leg behind their age peers in physical and motor development, show deficits in cognitive and language development. However, during the last few years important changes have been introduced in the institutional care system in Russian Federation and there is a dearth of research on cognitive development of children in Baby Homes after the changes have been implemented. The purpose of the current study was to examine cognitive development and adaptive skills of children residing in modern baby homes. We examined 59 children in the age range from 35 to 59 months: 38 children living in baby homes (M = 45,42, SD = 7.04; 17 girls, 21 boys) and 21 children living in biological families (M = 44,90, SD = 7,76; 13 girls, 8 boys). To evaluate cognitive development of children we used three non-verbal scales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the Vineland Behavior Adaptive Scales to obtain information about children’s adaptive skills. Results show that children in baby homes show significantly lower scores on all the scales of cognitive development and adaptive skills in comparison with children in biological families. These results demonstrate the necessity of future changes in the institutional care system in order to improve the environment for children in institutions, nurturing their development.

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