The Impact of Neglect on Initial Adaptation to School

This study examined the impact of child neglect during the first 4 years of life on adaptation to school during kindergarten and first grade in the context of neighborhood poverty (NP). Processes related to the development of school competencies were examined, including the mediational role of cognitive functioning and ego-resiliency (ER) in shaping children’s school outcomes. A total of 170 low-income urban children were followed prospectively for 2 years (ages 4–6). Results indicated that neglected children had significantly lower scores on kindergarten classroom behavior and first-grade academic performance than nonneglected children. Children’s cognitive performance at age 4, controlling for maternal intelligence quotient, mediated the relation between severity of neglect and children’s behavior in kindergarten as well as their academic performance in first grade. Moreover, severity of neglect was related to children’s ER at age 4. However, additional ecological adversity in the form of NP moderated the link between ER and classroom behavior, such that at lower levels of poverty, ER mediated the relation between severity of neglect and school adaptation. Conversely, when NP was extreme, the effects of ER were attenuated and ER ceased to predict behavioral performance in kindergarten. The implications of these findings for prevention and intervention are discussed.