The Longitudinal Relationship Between Maltreatment And Parental Neglect

Depression and anxiety, for example, may make a person more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol or drugs, or overeat. High-risk behaviors, in turn, can lead to long-term physical health problems, such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity. Not all children who have been abused or neglected will experience long-term consequences, but they may have an increased susceptibility. The immediate physical effects of abuse or neglect can be relatively minor (bruises or cuts) or severe (broken bones, hemorrhage, or even death). In some cases, the physical effects are temporary; however, the pain and suffering they cause a child should not be discounted. Child abuse and neglect can have a multitude of long-term effects on physical health. NSCAW researchers found that, at some point during the 3 years following a maltreatment investigation, 28 percent of children had a chronic health condition (Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation [ACF/OPRE], 2007). Below are some outcomes other researchers have identified: Impaired brain development. Child abuse and neglect have been shown to cause important regions of the brain to fail to form or grow properly, resulting in impaired development. These alterations in brain maturation have long-term consequences for cognitive, language, and academic abilities and are connected with mental health disorders (Tarullo,

The issue of child neglect is one of the most current forms of child maltreatment especially in the United States. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, child neglect is referred to as a kind of maltreatment which relates to the failure of a caregiver to offer the needed, age-appropriate care, despite the fact that the parent may be financially stable to do so (Conte 13). Neglect in many instances is described by an ongoing pattern that relates to lack of care and is observed by individuals in close contact with a child.

401). An analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008) revealed that in 2008 the rate of reported infant maltreatment was 51.81 per 1000 children with children below the age of one having the greatest likelihood of being the subject of maltreatment with frequencies lessening with age (Fallon, et al., 2013, p. 2). Child neglect has come to be described as the “neglect of neglect,” as it has been minimized by physical and sexual abuse and exploitation; therefore, neglect is often overlooked and under identified. Furthermore, child neglect is often difficult to identify due to cultural and spiritual differences. What is often negligent for one family may be considered usual to another (Cowen, 1999, pp. 401-403). Consequently, infant neglect often results in social, mental and physical delays, adult traumatization (Harper, Stalker, Palmer, & Gadbois, 2008), and failure to thrive (FTT); the result of inadequate nutrition resulting in poor physical development and, in extreme cases, psychosocial short stature; a disorder of the pituitary and hypothalamus which causes the child to not only be underdeveloped in weight but also in height due to major emotional and psychological trauma (Block & Krebs, 2005, pp. 1234-1235).

Even when kids don’t remember the abuse, they sometimes subconsciously will develop negative behaviors. A. Danese and M. Tan, in their journal article “Childhood Maltreatment and Obesity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis”( 2014), explain that child maltreatment and obesity are often related. Danese and Tan use factual evidence and a meta- analysis of 41 studies conducted to support that “Improving the psychosocial environment children live in might contribute to the primordial prevention of obesity and its consequence”( Danese and Tan 552). The authors’ purpose is to educate readers on the effects child abuse has on an individual's health in order to lower the obesity rates by helping children who are being mistreated. By keeping their article extremely formal and

Two factors correlating mental health and child development are abuse and neglect. All forms of abuse from physical, sexual, and emotional have a great impact on the consciousness of a child. Due to the damage abuse causes in their psychological development, children express themselves through their emotions and behavior (Mondal & Das, 2014). The physical aspect is the first thing that comes to mind when we come across the word abuse. It does not only stop at the visible scars and bruises, children can also be abused emotionally. Naturally, a child gravitates their biological mother, when the love and nurturing is absent and instead the void

It has been known, for many years, that childhood maltreatment, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, interparental violence, and sexual abuse, has an adverse effect on a developing child. These effects have been thought to be linked to adults later having cognitive deficits and mental disorders when compared to adults with no history of childhood maltreatment (Tomoda, Polcari, Anderson, & Teicher, 2012). It has also been shown that adults who experience childhood maltreatment are more prone to many medical illnesses than their healthy counterparts (Keeshin, Cronholm, & Strawn, 2012). With more recent advances in technology, scientists have been able to research exactly how childhood maltreatment affects development through methods such as MRI, fMRI, and genetic tests (Teicher, Anderson, & Polcari, 2012). Using these findings, scientists have begun to show how childhood maltreatment affects adults later in life. The following literature will support the claim that childhood maltreatment leads to abnormal neurological development which can later have adverse effects on the adult’s mental and physical health.

The purpose of this study is to determine if child abuse and neglect affect social status, grade point averages (GPA), or psychological imbalances of individuals later in life. This study is important to address to the public of the long-term affects of abuse and neglect in relation to such topics. The subjects surveyed are college-aged students ranging from ages 18 to 25. This survey is based on abuse or neglect from the subject’s parents or guardians at any point from birth to age 16 or 18. The cut off age group is dependant upon how old the subject was once they moved out of the household.

The maltreatment of children occurs at extraordinarily increasing proportions and is becoming a significant health risk to the children it is happening to. One of the major public health concerns should be identifying the risk factors associated with the maltreatment of these children and the just how much resistance these children really have against this abuse. Regardless of how much elasticity the general public in a whole may think these children have against maltreatment, they are still at a major risk of having diminished or compromised psychological and physical health later in life as an adult and are also are at extreme risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children who were not subject to maltreatment are still

B., Carrel, A. L., & Fost, F (2009). Childhood Obesity and Medical Neglect. Pediatric, 123(1), 399-406. Retrieved from

Considering the large number of children who are victims of child abuse, it is important to investigate not only the immediate effects of abuse, but also the long-term effects on the child’s well-being. Exposure to childhood maltreatment is a non-specific risk factor associated with many short and long term negative outcomes ranging from externalizing and internalizing behaviors, dissociative symptoms and self-harm behaviors, and adaptability and coping skills (Jackson, Gabrielli, Fleming, Tunno, & Makanui, 2014). When a child grows up in a home environment characterized by hostile interpersonal relationships, physical maltreatment, or neglect he or she is at risk for long-term developmental concerns regarding physiological, social, emotional,

The first step in preventing future sufferings is understanding the problem. Sara R. Jaffee and Cindy W. Christian, in their article, “ The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect Implications for Policy and Practice” inform that child maltreatment often causes serious implications later in life, and can be explained by medical and psychological responses. Jaffee and Christian support this suggestion with studies and experiments conducted on adults with neglected pasts that show that “Victims of maltreatment differ from non-victims with respect to brain structure and function, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-(HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system function, immune function, and epigenetic markers”(Jaffee and Cindy 1). Jaffee and Cindy’s purpose is to inform readers of the medical and scientific explanations of the long term effects of child maltreatment in order to allow others to better understand the dire need to help the children suffering from maltreatment.

Child abuse and neglect can have a lifelong implication on a victim, including in their well-being. Even though the physical wounds on a child may heal, there are several long-term consequences of experiencing the trauma of abuse and/or neglect. Children who are maltreated are often at

In recent years, there have been numerous studies and research evidence presented that expose the negative effects that early maltreatment and adversity, as well as poor parent-child attachments can have on children. The 2012 Children’s Bureau reported that an estimated 1,640 children died from maltreatment that year. Of that number, 70% experienced neglect and 44% experienced abuse (USDHHS, 2012). This maltreatment, according to the Modified Maltreatment Classification System, includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect (English & Longscan Investigators, 1997). A majority of studies focus on the neurological, physiological, environmental and behavioral consequences, but few studies have examined the effect early adversity has

According to the Administration for Children and Families (2013), there are one million verified cases of childhood maltreatment reported annually in the United States. This constitutes approximately 35% of the childhood population in the United States. Of these cases, 79.5% were the result of neglect, emotional abuse, and abandonment. Over 3% of these children attempted or completed suicide (Administration for Children and Families, 2013).

Every year, child abuse and neglect affect more than one million children nation-wide (Currie and Tekin 1). Along with this, child abuse is the source of severe injury to more than 500,000 children and the death of over 1,500 children (Currie and Tekin 1). These outrageously large numbers reveal the extent to which child abuse and neglect impact society; however, they do not acknowledge the effect abuse can have on a child’s life and the repercussions that may occur in both the individual’s childhood and adulthood. While the effects most certainly include physical pain and possibly future disabilities, child abuse and neglect can also affects the child’s psychological welfare. Psychological effects are often more difficult to recognize,