The social competence of internationally-adopted and institutionalized children throughout childhood: a comparative and longitudinal study

In a previous study, Palacios et al. (2013) explored the social competence of international adoptees, in- stitutionalized children and a community group of peers during early childhood, mean age 6.5 years. As reported by caregivers and teachers, institutionalized children were found to have lower so...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cáceres Campos, Isabel María, Moreno Rodríguez, María del Carmen, Román Rodríguez, Maite, Palacios González, Jesús
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/125153
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/125153
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.002
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:international adoption
residential care
social skills
sociometric status
Descripción
Sumario:In a previous study, Palacios et al. (2013) explored the social competence of international adoptees, in- stitutionalized children and a community group of peers during early childhood, mean age 6.5 years. As reported by caregivers and teachers, institutionalized children were found to have lower social skills than children growing up in family contexts. This paper presents the longitudinal follow-up of these 3 groups of children at a mean age of 11 years, as well as between-group and cross-informant compar- isons in the second wave of the study. Parents/caregivers and teachers rated the children’s social skills, while their sociometric status was reported by teachers. Adoptive parents reported normative social skills in their children, while teachers offered a more negative view. Institutionalized children scored signifi- cantly lower than the community group, from caregivers’ and teachers’ perspectives. The probability of having a good friend was statistically similar in all 3 groups, although adoptees tended to have a more negative sociometric status. Compared with the previous data collection, teachers reported a significant decrease in social skills for the adopted group, while the social difficulties remained stable over time in the institutionalized group. This study highlights the importance of studying social competence from a developmental and multi-contextual perspective, especially among children exposed to experiences of early adversity.