Psychological, social and emotional well-being of adults with a history of institutionalization: The pilot study findings

Abstract

The paper presents pilot research data that is part of the research project "The Impact of Early Deprivation on the Bio-Behavioral Indicators of Child Development" from the Government's megagrant programs No. 14.Z50.31.0027. The purpose of the paper is the study of mental, social and emotional well-being indicators of adults raised in orphanages in comparison with a control group of adults who grew up in biological families. The comparison was carried out using scales of the WHO Questionnaire for assessing quality of life and Adult Self-Report (ASR) from The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for assessing psychological and emotional well-being. Results revealed no significant differences between the groups studied. However, using the classification procedures, we found that an important feature is the living conditions that enable classification of membership in a group of graduates of an orphanage or in a group of adults from biological families: A separate apartment or a "public" space (a communal apartment or a dorm). A hypothesis has been put forward about the impact of the current living environment on the diagnosed indicators of the mental, social and emotional well-being of orphanage graduates.