Intelligence, Attention, and Behavioral Outcomes in Internationally Adopted Girls with a History of Institutionalization

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of neurocognitive functioning with internalizing and externalizing problems and school and social competence in children adopted internationally. Method: Participants included girls between the ages of 6–12 years who were internationally adopted from China (n = 32) or Eastern Europe (n = 25) and a control group of never-adopted girls (n = 25). Children completed the Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning subtests from the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence and the Score! and Sky Search subtests from the Test of Everyday Attention for Children. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales. Results: Compared to the controls, the Eastern European group evidenced significantly more problems with externalizing behaviors and school and social competence and poorer performance on measures of verbal intelligence, perceptual reasoning, and auditory attention. More internalizing problems were reported in the Chinese group compared to the controls. Using generalized linear regression, interaction terms were examined to determine whether the associations of neurocognitive functioning with behavior varied across groups. Eastern European group status was associated with more externalizing problems and poorer school and social competence, irrespective of neurocognitive test performance. In the Chinese group, poorer auditory attention was associated with more problems with social competence. Conclusions: Neurocognitive functioning may be related to behavior in children adopted internationally. Knowledge about neurocognitive functioning may further our understanding of the impact of early institutionalization on post-adoption behavior.

Keywords:

• Attention
• Social competence
• Childhood behavior problems.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the International Adoption Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for assistance with participant recruitment and financial support and Holly MacPherson, Karen Oberjohn, Jennifer Taylor, and Julia Smith for assistance with participant recruitment and data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The University of Cincinnati, University Research Council Interdisciplinary Grant.