Poster #2 - Do School Connection and Engagement Protect against Cognitive Functioning Deficits for Adolescents Experiencing Emotional Neglect?

• In Event: 3-001 - Poster Session 2 during Breakfast

Abstract

While the lifelong effects of abuse and physical neglect on academic abilities have been investigated, consequences of neglect that is emotional or psychological in nature remain unclear. Even less is known about the effect of this specific type of maltreatment in adolescence – a time of rapid cognitive and emotional development, as well as high risk for chronic, undetected emotional maltreatment. Children with histories of maltreatment frequently display severe and pervasive deficits, including lower test scores (i.e., reading and math) and grades, increased absences, and repeated grades. One study found that children who were emotionally maltreated in the first two years of life performed significantly worse on cognitive aptitude tests over time (Erickson & Egeland, 2002). Fortunately, the potential for school resources to positively influence academic trajectories of at-risk children is well-documented and may be protective against consequences of emotional neglect (EN). In this study, we examined the effects of adolescents’ experiences of EN by caregivers on their short- and long-term cognitive functioning (i.e., in adolescence and young adulthood). We then evaluated the protective effects of two feasibly malleable school-level factors: extracurricular activity involvement and feelings of school connectedness.
The study sample was 18,924 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Add Health is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of adolescents who were in grades 7-12 in 1994. Data were collected again in 1996, in 2001-2002 during young adulthood (ages 18–26), and in 2007-2008 when participants were 24-32 years old. Adolescent cognitive ability was measured using the Add Health Picture Vocabulary Test and in early adulthood using number and word recall tasks. EN and school connectedness were measured using latent variables. Path models with adolescent cognitive functioning as a mediator of functioning in early adulthood and with school factors as moderators were estimated (see Figure).
EN in adolescence was associated with adolescents’ lower vocabulary ability and indirectly with lower number and word recall tasks in young adulthood through adolescent vocabulary ability (see Table). For some outcomes, feelings of connectedness to school worsened the effect of EN – an unexpected finding. However, engagement in extracurricular activities was protective against the effect of EN in adolescence on word and number recall in young adulthood, indicating a long-term protective effect. While effect sizes are generally small, results show a long-term effect of EN for cognitive ability in early adulthood, and suggest school-level moderators as protective for long-term outcomes.

Authors

• Brittany Paige Mihalec-Adkins, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Amanda Warnock, Purdue University

• Sharon L. Christ, Purdue University