Importance of early neglect for childhood aggression.
OBJECTIVE
The goal was to examine the association between early childhood neglect (birth to age 2 years) and later childhood aggression at ages 4, 6, and 8 years, compared with aggression's associations with early childhood abuse and later abuse and neglect.


METHODS
A prospective cohort of 1318 predominantly at-risk children, recruited from 4 US cities and 1 southern state, were monitored from birth to 8 years of age. Maltreatment was determined through review of local child protective services records. A hierarchical, linear model approach, a special case of general, linear, mixed modeling, was used to predict aggressive behavior scores, as reported by the child's primary caregiver at ages 4, 6, and 8 years.


RESULTS
Only early neglect significantly predicted aggression scores. Early abuse, later abuse, and later neglect were not significantly predictive in a controlled model with all 4 predictors.


CONCLUSIONS
This longitudinal study suggests that child neglect in the first 2 years of life may be a more-important precursor of childhood aggression than later neglect or physical abuse at any age.
Kotch
Jonathan B
JB
Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, USA. jonathan_kotch@unc.edu
Lewis
Terri
T
Hussey
Jon M
JM
English
Diana
D
Thompson
Richard
R
Litrownik
Alan J
AJ
Runyan
Desmond K
DK
Bangdiwala
Shrikant I
SI
Margolis
Benyamin
B
Dubowitz
Howard
H
D000367:Age Factors; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors