Case report: Improving quality of care in Kazakhstan institutions.

This project is a community case study implemented by local professionals and caregivers to improve the quality of caregiving in two Kazakhstan institutions for infants and toddlers. Local professionals first received comprehensive training by an international team experienced in relevant research-based practices, and then the locals trained institutional staff. Over nearly 2 years, one institution progressively implemented changes in three wards and the other institution in one ward.

Development of children adopted to the United States following a social-emotional intervention in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) institutions.

This study is a post-adoption follow-up of a social-emotional intervention in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Baby Homes (BHs). Children previously resided in BHs and received Care as Usual (CAU, =220), Training Only (TO, =94), or Training plus Structural Changes (T+SC, =45).

Early Caregiver-Child Interaction and Children's Development: Lessons from the St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Intervention Research Project.

We review a series of interrelated studies on the development of children residing in institutions (i.e., orphanages) in the Russian Federation or placed with families in the USA and the Russian Federation.

CAREGIVER SENSITIVITY AND CONSISTENCY AND CHILDREN'S PRIOR FAMILY EXPERIENCE AS CONTEXTS FOR EARLY DEVELOPMENT WITHIN INSTITUTIONS.

The current study addressed whether two institution-wide interventions in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that increased caregiver sensitivity (Training Only: TO) or both caregiver sensitivity and consistency (Training plus Structural Changes: T+SC) promoted better socioemotional and cognitive development than did a No Intervention (NoI) institution during the first year of life for children who were placed soon after birth. It also assessed whether having spent less than 9 versus 9 to 36 months with a family prior to institutionalization was related to children's subsequent socioemotional and cognitive development within these three institutions.

The Effect of a Social-Emotional Intervention on the Development of Preterm Infants in Institutions.

This study examined the effect of a social-emotional intervention implemented in one St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) institution (called a Baby Home, BH) on the general behavioral development of preterm children (gestational ages of 30-36 weeks) during their first two years of life. The intervention consisted of training caregivers and implementing structural changes to create a more family-like environment.

CAREGIVER-CHILD INTERACTION, CAREGIVER TRANSITIONS, AND GROUP SIZE AS MEDIATORS BETWEEN INTERVENTION CONDITION AND ATTACHMENT AND PHYSICAL GROWTH OUTCOMES IN INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILDREN.

This report describes a secondary analysis of data from a comprehensive intervention project which included training and structural changes in three Baby Homes in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Multiple mediator models were tested according to the R.

The Development of Children Placed into Different Types of Russian Families Following an Institutional Intervention.

This study examined whether interventions in Russian Baby Homes promoting warm, sensitive, and responsive caregiver-child interactions and relationships would be associated with advantages in those children's behavior years after they transitioned to family care. Children ( = 135) who had resided for at least 3 months ( = 13.8 months) in one of three intervention institutions were subsequently placed in Russian families (relatives or non-relatives) for at least 1 year ( = 33.

The development of postinstitutionalized versus parent-reared Russian children as a function of age at placement and family type.

A total of 149 children, who spent an average of 13.8 months in Russian institutions, were transferred to Russian families of relatives and nonrelatives at an average age of 24.7 months.

Behavior problems in children transferred from a socioemotionally depriving institution to St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) families.

Behavior problems were studied in fifty 5- to 8-year-old children transferred from a socioemotionally depriving Russian institution to domestic families. Results indicated that the postinstitutional (PI) sample as a whole had higher clinical/borderline behavior problem rates on the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 (T.M.

Global research, practice, and policy issues on the care of infants and young children at risk: the articles in context.

This Special Issue includes articles that contribute to (a) the global research base pertaining to the development of infants and toddlers at risk, primarily those who are institutionalized in lower resource countries; (b) interventions in institutions and to promote family alternatives to institutionalization; and (c) attempts to create modern child welfare systems emphasizing family care in entire states and countries. This introduction places these articles into the broader contexts of the literature in these three domains of interest. Across the world, urbanization, migration, armed conflict, epidemics, and famine disrupt families.

Maintaining a social-emotional intervention and its benefits for institutionalized children.

This article reports the maintenance of one of the largest interventions conducted in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) orphanages for children birth to 4 years using regular caregiving staff. One orphanage received training plus structural changes, another training only, and a third business as usual.

The role of transitions to new age groups in the development of institutionalized children.

Children in two institutions in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) experienced ward transitions, one in which caregivers were trained to provide sensitive, responsive caregiving and one that conducted business as usual. A third institution eliminated transitions, received the same training, and implemented a variety of structural and employment changes designed to promote improved caregiver-child interactions and relationships.

Implementing Changes in Institutions to Improve Young Children's Development.

An estimated 8 million children, mostly birth to approximately 6-8 years of age, live in institutions worldwide. While institutional environments vary, certain characteristics are common, including relatively large groups; high children:caregiver ratios; many and frequently changing caregivers; homogeneous grouping by age and disability status; periodic graduations to new groups of peers and caregivers; and an "institutional style of caregiving" that minimizes talking, provides rather dispassionate perfunctory care, and offers little warm, sensitive, contingently-responsive caregiver-child interactions. The development of children in residence is usually delayed, sometimes extremely so, in every physical and behavioral domain.

Characteristics of environments, caregivers, and children in three Central American orphanages.

This study provides descriptive empirical information on the environments, organizational structure, caregivers, caregiver-child interactions, and children's general behavioral development and problem behaviors from three institutions for young children in Central America. While the institutions were clean, they were physically sparse and had Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS; T. Harms, D.

A socioemotional intervention in a Latin American orphanage.

A pilot intervention that emphasized training and technical assistance to promote warm, sensitive, and responsive one-on-one caregiver-child interactions primarily during feeding and bathing/changing was implemented using regular staff in a depressed orphanage for children birth to approximately 8 years of age in Latin America. Despite a variety of unanticipated irregularities in the implementation of the intervention, many beyond the researchers' control, ward environments improved; caregivers displayed more warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with children; and children improved an average of 13.5 developmental quotient (DQ) points after 4+ months' exposure to the completed intervention.

A Caregiver-Child Social/Emotional and Relationship Rating Scale (CCSERRS).

This paper reports the construction and pilot reliability, validity, and psychometric properties of a new caregiver-child rating scale that emphasizes caregiver-child social-emotional interactions and relationships. While the scale was developed and studied in the context of orphanages for young children, it potentially could be used in non-residential early care and education settings as well as for parent-child interactions in the home. The intent was to assess a few dimensions that comprehensively cover the range of caregiver-child social-emotional interactions and relationships but could be administered in a relatively short period of time in a variety of situations and would not require extensive coder training, manuals, or materials.

Improvements in early care in Russian orphanages and their relationship to observed behaviors.

This article describes a unique study that attempts to promote positive social-emotional relationships and attachment between caregivers and children in orphanages in St. Petersburg, Russia. The children who reside in these orphanages are typically between birth and 48 months of age; approximately 50% are diagnosed with disabilities, and approximately 60% leave through foreign adoption.

Benefits of the Comprehensive Child Development Program as a function of AFDC receipt and SES.

The benefits for children at the Pittsburgh site of the federal Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) were examined as a function of family welfare status (Aid to Families with Dependent Children; AFDC) and SES. The CCDP was the largest attempt by the federal government to provide two-generation, case-managed, comprehensive services to low-income families. Participating families could set their own goals and choose services to achieve them, but relatively few services were directed specifically at children.