Consequences of Child Neglect

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 8 of 15)

Child neglect can have devastating effects on the intellectual, physical, social, and psychological development of children. Numerous studies have documented significant developmental problems in children who have experienced inadequate, neglectful parenting. However, studies of maltreated children often fail to differentiate between abused and neglected children, or they are based on very small samples of neglected children. There is a lack of attention given to differentiating effects related to ethnic or racial differences. There are also important mediating factors that buffer the effects of neglect on its victims.

Drawing on attachment theory, child development researchers have accumulated substantial evidence that neglected and abused infants and toddlers fail to develop secure attachments with their neglecting and/or abusive primary care providers. Because of the hostile, rejecting, inattentive, or inconsistent attention to their needs these very young children receive, they develop anxious, insecure, or disorganized/disoriented attachments with their primary care providers. This lack of secure attachment relationship then hinders the infant's or toddler's ability to explore his/her environment and develop feelings of competence. The effects of neglect and abuse on young children's socioemotional development have been demonstrated to be over and above the effects attributable to poverty. But there are important differences in the effects on preschool versus school-aged children. Detrimental effects are lessened when the parents enjoy and encourage their children and have access to supportive community resources.

Social learning theory has also been employed to explain the differences that are found between abused and neglected children. Neglected children appear to be more generally passive and socially withdrawn in their interactions with peers, whereas abused children are more aggressive and active. Social learning theory suggests that neglected children's behavior is learned from the less active, socially withdrawn behavior that they observe modeled by their parents. Similarly, the abused children learn to imitate the more aggressive behavior of their parents.

Infants and Toddlers

Limited research evidence from studies of small samples of neglected infants and toddlers reveals that children who are victims of physical and emotional neglect suffer severe and continuing problems in functioning. These studies suggest that the failure to develop secure attachments with primary caregivers results in further developmental problems. Egeland and colleagues' longitudinal Mother-Child Interaction Study revealed significant developmental deficits in neglected preschool children. Behavior that indicates infants' lack of secure psychological attachment to their mothers began to manifest itself at 12 months of age and got progressively more prevalent through the preschool years. Two-year-olds demonstrated significant deficits in coping skills, more frustration, anger, and noncompliance when compared to nonneglected children in control groups. Neglected preschool children also manifested lower self-esteem, poorer control over impulses, and expressed less positive and more negative affect than the nonmaltreated children. When placed in an experimental Barrier-Box situation, where desirable toys were placed in a locked plexiglass box that prevented access to the toys, the neglected children were the least creative in seeking solutions to the dilemma. They were distractible and hyperactive, reluctant to seek help, and showed the most negative and least positive affect of the children. They were also the least persistent in problem solving.

At 42 months of age, the physically neglected children lacked persistence and enthusiasm and were negative and noncompliant in response to their mothers' efforts to teach them simple tasks. In a preschool classroom, these children were seen as more dependent and less able to control impulses than the nonmaltreated children. Children whose parents were emotionally neglectful manifested sharp declines on appropriate indicators of development from infancy through the toddler period.

Observations of peer interactions among a group of 14- to 61-month-old children that included a very small sample of four neglected children, suggest that neglected children, when compared with nonmaltreated children, exhibit less positive and less negative affect, initiate fewer interactions and fewer positive behaviors toward others, and engage in less complex play with peers. Group interventions to improve peer interactions were effective with abused but not with the neglected children.

Kindergarten and Early School Years

As neglected children grow older, developmental deficits are still apparent. They are less well-prepared for learning. One study indicated that maltreated (mostly neglected) preschool and early school-aged children, when compared to nonmaltreated children from AFDC-recipient families, were less secure in their readiness to learn. The conclusion was that maltreated preschool and early school-aged children are less securely ready to learn in the company of novel adults.

Teachers have rated neglected children as "extremely inattentive, uninvolved, reliant, lacking in creative initiative, and as having much difficulty in comprehending day-to-day schoolwork." They were described as lacking "persistence, initiative and confidence to work on their own... They were dependent on the teacher-somewhat helpless, passive and withdrawn, and at times angry." Egeland et al.'s study concluded that physically neglected children suffered the most severe developmental consequences of the four maltreated groups of children studied-neglected, physically abused, sexually abused children, and children whose parents were psychologically unavailable.

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Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.