Stable Family Environment Research Articles

Permanency Planning for Children and Youth: Out-of-Home Placement Decisions

This article advocates the extension of "permanency planning" in out-of-home placements to include those children and youth with developmental disabilities. It discusses permanency planning and notes its promise in improving the opportunities of all children and youth to grow up in a stable family environment. There is a need for major initiatives in this area: 78% of children and youth with developmental disabilities who are placed in long-term care have no such protections. Though some states currently operate programs according to the principles of permanency planning, significant changes in existing federal policy are recommended to require permanency planning in federally supported out-of-home care for all children, including those with severe disabilities.

A Comparison of Family Characteristics of Asian-American and Anglo-American High Achievers

The purpose of this study is to examine the similarities and differences in family characteristics of Asian-American and Anglo-American high achievers. Sixty matched parents were interviewed concerning four areas. The findings suggest that the family life of Anglo-American students tends to be less structured and provide less formal educational experience for children after school and on weekends. Similarities between these two groups include high parental expectation, concerned parents, stable family environment and close-knit family relationships.

A ten-year follow-up of alcoholic Native Americans in Minnesota.

In a 10-year follow-up of 45 alcoholic American Indians, 42 (93%) were located. Seven had been abstinent for 2 or more years, 26 still had drinking problems despite repeated treatment, and 9 had died. The authors hypothesize that the absence of stable employment and a stable marriage or family environment reduced the efficacy of treatment efforts in this population. Those who achieved 2 years of abstinence were characterized by stable employment and/or marriage, as well as by stronger interpersonal relationships and less depression than the others. The recovered subjects provided considerable help to other alcoholic persons in addition to serving as positive role models.

Malnutrition and Adoption—Two Variables in Infant Development

It is difficult to differentiate the effects of nutritional and psychologic factors during the recovery of malnourished children in the adoptive home. Our investigation attempted to differentiate the nutritional from psychologic stimuli in severely malnourished children who were institutionalized before being adopted by families. Twenty-six children were placed for adoption after hospitalization in the Dr. N. H. Sbarra hospital. All of this study group had suffered from second or third degree malnutrition at the time of admission to the hospital. The mean age at hospitalization was 5 months and the mean stay in the hospital was 6 months. The physical and developmental progress was compared with a control group of 17 well nourished children of similar age at hospitalization and adoption. During the period of hospitalization, all infants received an individualized psychomotor stimulation program along with an adequate nutritional intake. Weight, supine length, language, and adaptive behaviour and developmental quotient were assessed at admission, at the time of adoption, and 6 and 12 months after adoption. All malnourished infants demonstrated a rapid catch-up growth during nutritional rehabilitation in the hospital and during the first months after adoption. There was a significant reduction in rate of psychomotor development in both the malnourished and the control groups during hospitalization despite the stimulation plan. However, the effects of hospitalization on psychomotor development were no longer evident after 6 months of adoption. These observations indicate the independence of nutritional recovery from psychomotor development and confirm the importance of a stable family environment in the rehabilitation of infants.