The effect of institutionalization on psychomotor development of preschool aged children.
SOS village life gives preschoolers a clear developmental boost over typical orphanages, though still short of family-reared levels.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Giagazoglou et al. (2012) compared three groups of preschool kids. One group lived with families. One group lived in SOS villages. The last group lived in regular orphanages.
They used the Griffiths test to check how well each child moved, thought, and solved problems.
What they found
Family kids scored highest on every test. SOS village kids scored lower than family kids, but higher than orphanage kids.
In plain words, SOS care is better than a plain orphanage, yet still not as good as a real home.
How this fits with other research
Rimmer et al. (1995) looked at adults with ID and found the opposite twist: adults in big institutions had better body numbers than adults in group homes. The preschool study and the adult study both show that where you live changes your outcomes, but the best setting flips with age.
Feldman et al. (1999) proved the tools used to judge deinstitutionalization are reliable. That gives us trust in the Griffiths scores we see here.
Varghese et al. (2025) showed orphanage kids can quickly improve behavior with a token economy. Put together, the two papers tell us that both the place and the program matter.
Why it matters
If you assess or place young kids, push for family care first. When family care is impossible, recommend small village-style homes over large orphanages. Track progress with Griffiths or similar developmental checks every six months. Also, pair the better housing with solid behavior programs like token economies to get the fullest gains.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Development can be altered by several factors which can either facilitate or obstruct development. The aim of the current study was the examination and the detection of differences in the developmental profiles of preschool aged children living in conventional institution facilities (N=28), in SOS villages (N=20) and in natural family environment (N=48). The psychomotor development of the 96 children, aged 4-6 years old, was assessed using the six scales of the Griffiths Test No II. Two-way analysis of variance designs showed that family reared children had better performance in all scales of the Griffiths test compared with children of the other two groups and that children living in a SOS village had better scores on all domains of development examined compared to children living in a conventional institution (p<.05). The findings reinforce the need to transform institution environments into more supportive ones for the most benefit of children's development and mental health.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.12.016