The English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) Project
The English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) Project was a longitudinal, multi-method investigation of the development of children adopted into the UK from Romania in the early 1990's. It was funded by the Department of Health, Jacobs Foundation and Nuffield Foundation and was led by Professor Sir Michael Rutter and Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke. Over nearly twenty years the study has documented the development of Romanian adoptees and has revolutionised our understanding of the impact of early adversity on development. Find out more about the ERA project and it's findings.
Although many adoptees, despite suffering terrible trauma and deprivation, seemed to have developed well, a large proportion have suffered from severe and impairing neuro-developmental disorders. We are extending the work of the primary study in two main areas.
The first is analysis of the brain imaging data we have collected from some of the adoptees and uncovering what that can tell us about how early experience shapes brain development. See the findings from a recent study.
Secondly, we are going behind the quantitative data to identify ways that early trauma-exposed adoptees suffering ADHD and co-occurring disorders navigate the transition to adulthood and what adoptive families and support services can do to help them. We know this transition is pivotal in determining long-term outcomes – but it can also present challenges. This work is funded by a grant from The Waterloo Foundation. For more information on this project, please contact Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke.
Our recent qualitative findings suggest that neurodevelopmental correlates of early adversity is an issue that is not well understood by service providers and often goes unnoticed. Therefore, there are difficulties in getting access to the right support. Alongside this, around a fifth of those who have gone on to become parents themselves have encountered difficulties and again, have struggled to get the help needed, often leaving the adoptive parents to provide this much needed day-to-day help themselves. This work highlights how the needs of adopted children should be seen as a lifespan issue and that for some, the support needs extend beyond childhood.
Read more in this blog post exploring previously institutionalised adoptees continued support needs in young adulthood: new perspectives on becoming a parent.
Listen to the Mental Elf podcast episode on the ERA Project here.
Project Team
Lecturer in Mental Health Education
Emeritus Professor of Developmental Epidemiology
Clinical Researcher
Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Publications
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2024). Neurodevelopmental problems in adulthood following severe early deprivation: A qualitative analysis of clinical needs and service user experiences. Adoption & Fostering, 48(1), 106-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/03085759231212497
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Maughan, B. & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2023). Neurodevelopmental problems in adulthood following severe early deprivation: A qualitative analysis of clinical needs and service use experiences. Adoption and Fostering.
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2023). When people adopted from severely depriving institutions become parents: The experiences of young adult mothers from the ERA study and their adoptive parents. Adoption & Fostering.
Rodriguez-Perez, M., Kennedy, M., Barker, E. D., Kreppner, J., Solerdelcoll, M. & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2023). The adult outcome of childhood quasi-autism arising following extreme institutional deprivation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Sonuga-Barke, E. & Maughan, B. (2023). When people adopted from severely depriving institutions become parents: The experiences of young adult mothers from the ERA study and their adoptive parents.
Mackes, N. K., Mehta, M. A., Beyh, A., Nkrumah, R. O., Golm, D., Sarkar, S., ... & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2022). A prospective study of the impact of severe childhood deprivation on brain White matter in adult adoptees: widespread localized reductions in volume but unaffected microstructural organization.
Rizeq, J., Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2022). Understanding the prospective associations between neuro-developmental problems, bullying victimization, and mental health: lessons from a longitudinal study of institutional deprivation. Development and psychopathology.
The ERA Young Adult Follow-up team. (2022). Severe deprivation in early childhood leads to permanent growth stunting: Longitudinal analysis of height trajectories from childhood-to-adulthood. Child Abuse and Neglect.
Sonuga-Barke, E., Kennedy, M., Golm, D., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., ... & Schlotz, W. (2020). Adoptees’ responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation. Development and Psychopathology.
Golm, D., Maughan, B., Barker, E. D., Hill, J., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., ... & Sonuga‐Barke, E. (2020). Why does early childhood deprivation increase the risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood? A developmental cascade model. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Mackes, N. K., Golm, D., Sarkar, S., Kumsta, R., Rutter, M., Fairchild, G., ... & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2020). Early childhood deprivation is associated with alterations in adult brain structure despite subsequent environmental enrichment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Sonuga-Barke, E., Kennedy, M., Golm, D., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., ... & Schlotz, W. (2019). Adoptees’ responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation. Development and psychopathology.
Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Golm, D., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2017). Adult disinhibited social engagement in adoptees exposed to extreme institutional deprivation: examination of its clinical status and functional impact. The British Journal of Psychiatry.
Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., Golm, D., Moser, D., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2017). HPA axis dysregulation in adult adoptees twenty years after severe institutional deprivation in childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Sonuga-Barke, E, Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Schlotz, W. (2017). The long-term impact of profound deprivation on human development: Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories in the English and Romanian Adoptees study. The Lancet.
Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Schlotz, W., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2016). Hyper-persistence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adult adoptees exposed to extreme early institutional deprivation: Clinical presentation, developmental continuities and functional impairment in the English and Romanian Adoptees study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Project Team
Lecturer in Mental Health Education
Emeritus Professor of Developmental Epidemiology
Clinical Researcher
Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Publications
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2024). Neurodevelopmental problems in adulthood following severe early deprivation: A qualitative analysis of clinical needs and service user experiences. Adoption & Fostering, 48(1), 106-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/03085759231212497
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Maughan, B. & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2023). Neurodevelopmental problems in adulthood following severe early deprivation: A qualitative analysis of clinical needs and service use experiences. Adoption and Fostering.
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2023). When people adopted from severely depriving institutions become parents: The experiences of young adult mothers from the ERA study and their adoptive parents. Adoption & Fostering.
Rodriguez-Perez, M., Kennedy, M., Barker, E. D., Kreppner, J., Solerdelcoll, M. & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2023). The adult outcome of childhood quasi-autism arising following extreme institutional deprivation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.
Edwards, C., Kennedy, M., Sonuga-Barke, E. & Maughan, B. (2023). When people adopted from severely depriving institutions become parents: The experiences of young adult mothers from the ERA study and their adoptive parents.
Mackes, N. K., Mehta, M. A., Beyh, A., Nkrumah, R. O., Golm, D., Sarkar, S., ... & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2022). A prospective study of the impact of severe childhood deprivation on brain White matter in adult adoptees: widespread localized reductions in volume but unaffected microstructural organization.
Rizeq, J., Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Maughan, B., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2022). Understanding the prospective associations between neuro-developmental problems, bullying victimization, and mental health: lessons from a longitudinal study of institutional deprivation. Development and psychopathology.
The ERA Young Adult Follow-up team. (2022). Severe deprivation in early childhood leads to permanent growth stunting: Longitudinal analysis of height trajectories from childhood-to-adulthood. Child Abuse and Neglect.
Sonuga-Barke, E., Kennedy, M., Golm, D., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., ... & Schlotz, W. (2020). Adoptees’ responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation. Development and Psychopathology.
Golm, D., Maughan, B., Barker, E. D., Hill, J., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., ... & Sonuga‐Barke, E. (2020). Why does early childhood deprivation increase the risk for depression and anxiety in adulthood? A developmental cascade model. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Mackes, N. K., Golm, D., Sarkar, S., Kumsta, R., Rutter, M., Fairchild, G., ... & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2020). Early childhood deprivation is associated with alterations in adult brain structure despite subsequent environmental enrichment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Sonuga-Barke, E., Kennedy, M., Golm, D., Knights, N., Kovshoff, H., Kreppner, J., ... & Schlotz, W. (2019). Adoptees’ responses to separation from, and reunion with, their adoptive parent at age 4 years is associated with long-term persistence of autism symptoms following early severe institutional deprivation. Development and psychopathology.
Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Golm, D., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2017). Adult disinhibited social engagement in adoptees exposed to extreme institutional deprivation: examination of its clinical status and functional impact. The British Journal of Psychiatry.
Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., Golm, D., Moser, D., Kennedy, M., Knights, N., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2017). HPA axis dysregulation in adult adoptees twenty years after severe institutional deprivation in childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Sonuga-Barke, E, Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Schlotz, W. (2017). The long-term impact of profound deprivation on human development: Child-to-adult neurodevelopmental and mental health trajectories in the English and Romanian Adoptees study. The Lancet.
Kennedy, M., Kreppner, J., Knights, N., Kumsta, R., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Schlotz, W., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2016). Hyper-persistence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adult adoptees exposed to extreme early institutional deprivation: Clinical presentation, developmental continuities and functional impairment in the English and Romanian Adoptees study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.