Neglect as Damaging for Kids as Abuse

A new study shows that children who are neglected in the first two years of life are much more likely to be aggressive by the time they're four, according to this article in Science Daily.

Neglect is twice as prevalent as abuse in child maltreatment cases reported in the United States.

The lack of attention devoted to the problem of neglect -- the so-called 'neglect of neglect' -- is a long-standing concern in the child welfare field," said study co-author Jon Hussey, research assistant professor of maternal and child health in the UNC School of Public Health and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center. "Despite being more common than abuse, we know relatively little about the impact of neglect on children."

The results of the study are not surprising, but it is good ammunition for educators and people who work with new mothers and young children. As Allan Schore, the guru of attachment neuroscience, points out, a human infant left alone in the wild would quickly die. Babies that went into high alert and screamed their heads off when dropped or left alone were more likely to survive, so this recognition is part of the baby's automatic reactions at birth.

Babies who are left alone too much often get stuck in the fight-or-flight response; as they get older, and are capable of hitting or kicking to defend themselves, it's natural that they react to perceived threats with aggression.