An educational intervention improves developmental progress of young children in a Romanian orphanage

Abstract

From 1991 to 1994, a group of Romanian and American colleagues undertook an experimental and humanitarian effort to try to improve the quality of life, mental health, and developmental progress of young children in a Romanian orphanage. In the context of institutional care, we experimentally introduced stable adult-child relationships, small group size, and a protocol of enriched caregiving and educational activities. These procedures were adapted from an intervention in childcare centers in the United States that had been proven effective in reducing intellectual decline in at-risk children. Developmental scores for orphanage children were derived from the Denver II (a revision of the Denve..