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TRCNC Second Annual
Meeting
October 16-17, 2008
Graduate Center,
City University of New York,
New York City
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Dates: October
16- 17, 2008
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Location: The Graduate Center, City University of New
York (CUNY)
365 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY 10016-4309
CUNY, NY
The 2008 TRCNC meeting focused on the results of
longitudinal studies of neglect across the life course, with special
emphasis on causes, consequences, and mediators. Studies of the
consequences of childhood neglect have typically relied on
cross-sectional designs and, thus, there has been considerable
ambiguity in the meaning of the relationships or associations
described in the literature. For example, depressive disorder
may be a direct or indirect consequence of childhood neglect.
Depressed children may be more likely to be targeted for neglect, or
depression may be a function of other characteristics in the
environment in which the neglected child lives (e.g., having a
depressed mother). Furthermore, childhood neglect may result in direct
effects, such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD, which in turn cause
secondary reactions by disrupting the child’s progress through
age-appropriate developmental tasks. When these concerns are not
addressed through appropriate research designs or statistical
analysis, these ambiguities limit conclusions that may be drawn about
the impact of child neglect. An advantage of prospective longitudinal
studies is that it is possible to answer questions about temporal
sequence. Understanding whether associations are a direct or indirect
function of child maltreatment has implications for whether and how
secondary prevention interventions are designed and implemented.
Results from prospective longitudinal studies
have begun to shed light on the relationship between child neglect and
subsequent outcomes. Retrospective designs may suggest possible
risk factors for outcomes and permit scholars to identify certain
psychological or health outcomes for which childhood neglect is a
candidate risk factor. Nevertheless, the test of the validity of these
hypothetical relationships lies in longitudinal studies, and only
through prospective longitudinal designs will researchers be able to
begin to tease out issues of etiology and, eventually, causality.
A new generation of prospective longitudinal studies is underway that
includes assessments of child neglect using self-reports by children
as well as official records of neglect. Findings from longitudinal
studies on the consequences of childhood neglect across a number of
domains of functioning were presented at this conference.
Byron Egeland, Ph.D., University of Minnesota,
gave an invited talk about the results of his longitudinal study of
the children of high risk mothers. Members of the TRCNC also
made scientific presentations, since a number of the grants represent
longitudinal studies looking at some aspect of importance to child
neglect, including studies of the causes, consequences, and potential
mediators of outcomes.
Watch a video of
Commissioner John Mattingly give his Welcome Remarks to the 2008
Meeting, followed by a presentation entitled "A Longitudinal Study
of Physical and Emotional Neglect: Consequences and Implications
for Prevention and Intervention"
by Byron
Egeland, Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development at the
University
of
Minnesota.
For photos from the 2008 TRCNC Conference,
Click Here.
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