3-199 - Toward a More Nuanced Understanding of Child Abuse and Neglect: Timing, Type, and Intervention Effectiveness

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Child abuse and neglect is a pressing public health concern, with consequences for children’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development; family preservation; and social and economic vitality. Maltreatment often occurs intergenerationally, highlighting the importance of family support and intervention. Successful prevention requires understanding not only the roots of maltreatment (e.g., intergenerational history, parenting stress, lack of financial and social resources), but also a more nuanced view of the effects of disparate forms of maltreatment, the timing of maltreatment exposure and intervention, the longer term effectiveness of intervention in the years post-treatment, and the developmental consequences of maltreatment. The papers in this symposium address these issues across early childhood, using samples that are comparatively large and diverse relative to the developmental science literature on child maltreatment. Focusing on child neglect, the most commonly-occurring form of maltreatment, one paper highlights the longitudinal consequences of neglect on academic and socioemotional functioning prior to school entry, and the differential impact of disparate forms of neglect. Two papers address issues of developmental timing (of maltreatment or intervention onset). One study suggests that onset of maltreatment in the preschool years was most detrimental to children’s behavior regulation at age six; the other indicates that intervention during the preschool years was more effective than later treatment, with temporal fading of treatment effects across five years post-treatment. The discussant will integrate the papers’ findings and will address the implications for policy and practice, including taking a longer-term view of intervention effectiveness, and considering issues of maltreatment type and substantiation.

Sub Unit

• Prevention and Interventions

Chair

• Ann Easterbrooks, Tufts University

Discussant

• Chantal Cyr, University of Quebec at Montreal

Individual Presentations

• Linking the Onset Timing of Child Maltreatment to Behavioral Regulation During Early Childhood - Presenting Author: Chie Kotake, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Meera Menon, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Lauren E Stargel, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Ann Easterbrooks, Tufts University

• A Five-Year Window on the Mental Health of Maltreated Children: Development, Age, and Early Intervention - Presenting Author: Susan G Timmer, UC Davis CAARE Center; Non-Presenting Author: Brandi N Hawk, UC Davis CAARE Center; Non-Presenting Author: Maria Usacheva, UC Davis

• The Impact of Child Neglect Among Early Head Start Participants - Presenting Author: Jessica Dym Bartlett, Child Trends; Non-Presenting Author: Katherine Buttita, Childrens Hospital Boston, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Katie Kao, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Ayoub, Childrens Hospital Boston, Harvard University