ABSTRACT Only a limited number of studies have investigated the impact of neglect on young children. Our research constitutes an initial attempt to examine the severity of neglect experienced in early childhood and its association with measures of neuropsychological and emotional‐behavioural functioning. Fifty children, aged 5–7 years, with a history of neglect and an IQ score above 70, were selected and categorized into three groups based on the severity of their neglect. We assessed cognitive reasoning, short‐ and long‐term memory skills, visual and auditory attention, emotional‐behavioural problems and post‐traumatic outcomes in children. A significant correlation was found only within the long‐term memory domain, particularly between the severity of neglect and episodic memory as assessed by the Word‐list Learning Task . However, no significant correlations were detected between the other neuropsychological measures and the severity of neglect. Furthermore, we qualitatively observed that difficulties in auditory attention and long‐term memory, as well as internalizing and externalizing symptoms, were present in more than half of the participants. Our preliminary results, derived from a small cohort of children, underscore the importance of early evaluation to target clinical and educational interventions for young children with histories of caregiving neglect.
Sperandini et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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