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Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Early Brain Development
Bulletin for Professionals

Author(s):  Child Welfare Information Gateway

Year Published:  2001

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Summary and Research Recommendations

In 1999, approximately 826,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse and/or neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), but it is likely that many more children are actually suffering under adverse conditions. Each one of these children already may have suffered damage to their growing brains. Their brains may be locked into perceiving the world as a cold or dangerous place. They may have great difficulties responding to the caring concern of others. Because their brains' energies have been focused on survival, on meeting their own needs, these children may not have developed the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional capabilities one would expect of them. But their future, and the futures of countless others to come, need not be so bleak.

One lesson we have learned from the research on brain development is that environment has a powerful influence on development. Stable, nurturing caregivers and knowledgeable, supportive professionals can have a significant impact on these children's development. And using this growing body of knowledge in prevention efforts can potentially reduce the number of children who will require "reparative" work. There is still much to learn, however. Some of the recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development include:

• Bring together biological and psychosocial researchers to bridge the divide between these fields.
• Understand more about the contribution of genetics to the development process that may explain susceptibility to risk and capacity for resilience.
• Understand more about how biological processes interact with the environment to affect behavior.
• Fund collaborative research projects to study the effect of environment on brain development to learn more about what are deprived, sufficient, and enriched environments.
• Direct program-based research and evaluation to document and test interventions to ensure full effectiveness, and use knowledge from ineffective programs to spur more experimentation (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).

While we continue to study and learn more about the effects of maltreatment on early brain development, we can begin to use the knowledge that is already available. We can use this knowledge to strengthen our prevention and intervention strategies, our support of caregivers, and our commitment to provide all children with the nurturance and stimulation they need to grow up healthy and happy.

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You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - How the Brain Develops 2 - Effects of Maltreatment on Brain… 3 - Implications for Practice… 4 - Summary and Research… 5 - References

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Updated on October 9, 2009