Romanian adolescents: literature review and psychiatric presentation of romanian adolescents adopted in romania and in Canada.

Introduction: This article presents an overview of literature on the psychiatric sequelae of institutionalization from an attachment perspective in children adopted from Romanian Orphanages.

Method: We compare the psychiatric presentations of Romanian Canadian adoptees to same age Romanian adoptees within Romania.

Results: 10 Canadian and 24 Romanian cases were combined to form a composite of a number of adolescents presenting to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division in Cluj Napoca, Romania and in Kingston, Canada.

Conclusion: Early institutionalization in conditions of neglect and deprivation has a major impact on subsequent biopsychosocial development of children whether they are adopted in Canada or in Romania.