Child maltreatment (child abuse or neglect) during infancy and early childhood has been shown to negatively affect child development, including brain and cognitive development, and can have lasting effects. Abuse and neglect also affect children and youth’s social and emotional development. The following resources explain the physical, psychological, behavioral, and societal impacts of child abuse and neglect.
Brain/cognitive development
8 Things to Remember About Child Development
Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child
Provides a list of key things to help better inform and improve existing early childhood development policy and practice as well as help generate new ways of thinking about solutions.
Center on the Developing Child
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Publishes and links to research on early brain development, learning, and behavior. The website includes resources related to neglect and toxic stress and the resulting impact on child development.
ChildTrauma Academy
Offers online courses, trainings, and other resources on early brain development and the impact of maltreatment.
Complex Trauma
National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Provides information on the physical and cognitive effects of complex trauma as well as its impact on attachment and relationships, emotional responses, behavior, and long-term health.
Early Brain Development and Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Explains the effects of early childhood experiences on brain development and how to create a healthy start for a child’s brain.
How Childhood Abuse Changes the Brain
Holmes (2020)
Verywell Mind
Explores how child abuse and neglect changes the brain in ways that can lead to psychological challenges later in life.
Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development
Social and emotional development
Factors That Influence Children’s Social and Emotional Development
Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation at Georgetown University
Discusses environmental, family, and child factors that work in tandem to affect emotional development.
Maltreatment and Emotional Development
Harms, Pollak, & Leitzke (2019)
Describes impacts of child abuse and neglect on children’s social and emotional development focusing on emotional perception, emotion expression, regulation of negative emotions and stress, and reward processing.
Understanding Attachment
Attachment and Trauma Network, Inc.
Defines the diagnostic criteria for attachment disorders that commonly occur following child abuse and neglect.
What Do We Know About Social and Emotional Development in Early Childhood?
The Urban Child Institute
Presents information about the ecological systems contributing to social and emotional development in childhood as well as key milestones in the developmental process.
Academic achievement
Child Maltreatment and Academic Performance (PDF - 1,307 KB)
Jacob & Ryan (2018)
University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab & Child and Adolescent Data Lab
Presents key findings about the relationship between child protective services investigations and academic achievement, including the influence of moderators like poverty.
The Impact of Child Maltreatment on the Educational and Psychological Well-Being of Students (PDF - 105 KB)
Chitiyo & Pietrantoni (2019)
Examines literature on the impact of child abuse and neglect on the academic achievement of students and on their emotional well-being.
Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect
Resources for School Personnel
National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Offers resources to help educators, school staff, and others understand and respond to the needs of children who have been maltreated or have experienced trauma.
Toxic Stress and Children’s Outcomes
Morsy & Rothstein (2019)
Economic Policy Institute
Describes how poor, Black children are at greater risk for negative outcomes due to toxic stress in childhood and suggests policy and practice recommendations to mitigate this harm.