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Abstract
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AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to assess the mental condition of institutionally reared children as compared to individuals brought up by their parents.
METHOD: Based on data collected by the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Lodz, in the years 2006-2012, four groups of patients were formed according to their place of residence/type of care they were provided with. The sample group included 1,308 patients hospitalised at the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry. The group that participated in the study included 794 girls and 514 boys aged 13-18 years.
RESULTS: In the sample group girls were more often brought up in foster families. The most commonly diagnosed problems among hospitalised children brought up in institutions are behavioural and emotional disorders (diagnostic categories from F90 to F98) and almost half of the subjects showed this type of disorders. The percentage rate of self-injuries and suicide attempts is higher in groups of children raised in foster families and education and care facilities. The average age of developing mental disorders is lower among children raised in foster families and the institutional rearing system. In the group of children raised in foster families and the institutional rearing system a higher number of hospitalisation cases were observed.
CONCLUSIONS: 1) Institutionally reared children and adolescents suffer from self-injuries or even make suicide attempts more often than their peers brought up in two-parent families. 2) The average age of mental disorder onset among children raised in institutions and foster families is lower; they are also hospitalised more often than their peers brought up by parents. 3) Institutional rearing is a factor that gives a poorer prognosis for mental disorders among children and adolescents, just as living with a non-parent caregiver (a guardian). © Psychiatr Psychol Klin 2018.
Language: en |