According to a 2019 study on childhood maltreatment in the United States, about 37 percent of American children experience a police investigation on child welfare maltreatment during their childhood (Edwards 51). Furthermore, children from different ethnic groups are affected disproportionately. For instance, among the American Indian–Alaska Natives population, 72 percent more police investigations have resulted in a confirmed child maltreatment case (Edwards 62). The most common form of childhood maltreatment is neglect, which can be emotional or physical. 

Many parents trivialize their children’s feelings and dismiss their distress as immature fits. Moreover, they believe that children should mature by learning from their own mistakes and developing their own coping mechanisms. Hence, many parents actually believe neglecting their children is beneficial for their growth since it allows them to be more independent. 

These misconceptions among caregivers prevent them from addressing their children’s emotional and physical needs, leading to potentially detrimental consequences since children who feel neglected often develop mental health issues, exhibit delinquency and antisocial behaviors that could negatively affect their entire lives and those of their future generations.

The more immediate consequences of childhood neglect can be sorted into two categories—external and internal. As demonstrated through a study conducted by Sabine A. Maguire and her colleagues from the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, the external consequences include the appearances of “aggressive, assaultive, destructive, antisocial, [and] delinquent behaviors” in these children (643). The same study also reveals that neglected children between the ages of eleven to fourteen have more conflicts in school and disciplinary problems (Maguire 644). 

When compared to the external consequences, the internal consequences of childhood neglect are undoubtedly more substantial and damaging. According to the same study by Maguire along with others from Cardiff University, the internal effects of childhood neglect directly connect to a feeling of  “external control,” meaning that children may feel withdrawn and helpless since they are unable to influence their life circumstances and feel controlled by their caregivers instead (644). In other words, neglected children are more likely to lack a sense of belonging and hope. Moreover, these children tend to have lower self-esteem as well as difficulties in managing their mental struggles and controlling their emotions (Maguire 646). The study also indicates that neglected children retain fewer adaptive emotional regulation skills, have less effective coping strategies, and often behave impulsively (Maguire 647). Furthermore, these children also tend to have lower levels of emotional understanding compared to children who receive adequate physical and emotional support (Maguire 647). 

Aside from their mental health and behaviors, how does neglect affect the cognitive abilities and academic performance of children? Unsurprisingly, the impact of childhood neglect is similarly negative on cognitive development. Maguire and her peers at Cardiff University explain, “neglected children [have] significantly worse overall academic performance” (647). More specifically, their general intelligence is lower, and they are less able to make rational decisions (Maguire 647). In the most severe cases of childhood neglect, the children will also have a lower receptive vocabulary, which becomes evident as early as the age of six to nine (Maguire 647).

While behavioral issues may be remedied over time, the brain is harder to retrain because it develops slower as one ages, and mental illnesses are generally more difficult to recover from completely. Thus, childhood neglect has enduring consequences including lower cognitive abilities and emotional struggles that affect people throughout their lives. 

According to a large demographic study done in Haryana, at least 250 million children under five years of age suffer from emotional and physical neglect due to inadequate care and lack of security or safety at home (Sharma). Shockingly, these children make up 43 percent of all children under the age of five, globally. Consequently, these children are at risk of lacking essential nutrients, which strongly correlates with poor cognitive development and lower incomes in adulthood (Sharma). Public health experts estimate in The Lancet Early Childhood Development Series, “children with an unhealthy start in life suffer a loss of about a quarter of average adult income per year, leading to the countries they live in forfeiting up to twice their current GDP expenditures on health and education” (Sharma). 

How do these effects perpetuate negative outcomes that impact generations? According to a 2019 study by Claire Bodkin and her colleagues published in the American Journal of Public Health, half of the prisoners in Canada have experienced at least one type of childhood maltreatment (1).  Sir Keith Joseph wrote in The Independent, “prisoners who have suffered excessive punishment or neglect in childhood are at risk of repeating the pattern of poor parenting” ("Letter: Prison children"). In addition, women were relatively more prone to experiencing neglect: 51.5 percent of women reported experiencing neglect while only 42 percent of men did (Bodkin 1). Women who experienced childhood neglect may be more likely to become neglectful mothers to their own children because they never had nurturing or caregiving modeled for them. This leads to a negative cycle of childhood maltreatment and ineffective parenting that is passed from one generation to the next, creating a downward spiral of consequences that makes each generation more vulnerable to physical and mental struggles.

We must take action to disrupt this devastating cycle by raising awareness and teaching caregivers how to nurture relationships with their children. The wellbeing of our children and their future generations depend on the awareness and action we take today. Parents must not only provide their children with more adequate care and consider their feelings, but also become more aware of their children’s emotional struggles, which might be subtle at first, but if left unattended could lead to severe, lifelong consequences. At the end of the day, our future lies in the wellbeing of our youth. 

Works Cited

Bodkin, Claire, et al. “History of Childhood Abuse in Populations Incarcerated in Canada: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 109, no. 3, Mar. 2019, pp. e1–e11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304855. Accessed 12 Dec. 2021. 

Edwards, Frank. “Family Surveillance: Police and the Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, vol. 5, no. 1, 2019, pp. 50–70. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7758/rsf.2019.5.1.03. Accessed 12 Dec. 2021.

"Letter: Prison children." Independent [London, England], 10 Dec. 1998, p. 2. Gale In Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A66719848/GIC?u=ambud&sid=GIC&xid=2f73fae1. Accessed 12 Dec. 2021.

Maguire, S. A., et al. “A Systematic Review of the Emotional, Behavioural and Cognitive Features Exhibited by School-Aged Children Experiencing Neglect or Emotional Abuse.” Child: Care, Health & Development, vol. 41, no. 5, Sept. 2015, pp. 641–653. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/cch.12227. Accessed 12 Dec. 2021.

Sharma, Sanchita. “HealthWise: Neglect, Domestic Violence Lower Children’s Development.” Hindustan Times, 13 Jan. 2019. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W61550492326. Accessed 12 December 2021.