NCJ Number
208498
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 26 Issue: 6/7 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 679-695
Date Published
June 2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the manner in which the primary forms of child neglect impede and induce developmental abilities and limitations.
Abstract
The review focuses on three developmental periods -- infancy/preschool, school-aged and younger adolescents, and older adolescents and adults -- as well as the processes related to cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral development. The authors note that child neglect often involves chronic situations that are not as easily identified as specific incidents. These conditions can include chronic poverty, serious care-giving deficits, parental psychopathology, substance abuse, homelessness, family breakup, and poor prenatal and postnatal care. Each of these risk factors has been shown independently to increase children's vulnerability to psychopathology, especially when compensatory strengths and resources are absent. Past as well as recent research findings confirm that child neglect can have severe, debilitating short-term and long-term effects on children's cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral development. Consistent with attachment and related theories, neglect that occurs early in life is particularly damaging to subsequent healthy mental and physical development. The effects of neglect can be more devastating to subsequent development than physical abuse, particularly in the stages of childhood and early adolescence. Suggestions are offered for future research and greater priority for addressing child neglect. 85 references