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Child maltreatment and cognitive and academic functioning in two generations.

Jacqueline Horan Fisher¹, Cathy Spatz Widom²

¹Psychology Department, SUNY Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY, 10577, USA; Psychology Department, John Jay College, City University of New York, 524 West 59th Street, New York, NY, 10019, USA.

Child Abuse & Neglect

|February 26, 2021

Summary

Childhood maltreatment is linked to cognitive and academic issues, but this study suggests it may not be a direct cause. Parental functioning and history of maltreatment appear to be more significant predictors in offspring outcomes.

Keywords:

Academic functioning Child maltreatment Cognitive functioning Prospective longitudinal design Two generations

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Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Childhood Trauma Research
Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

Childhood maltreatment is frequently linked to impaired cognitive abilities and lower academic achievement.
The direct causal role of maltreatment versus indirect influences remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if childhood maltreatment predicts cognitive and academic functioning in offspring.
To determine if parental factors (cognitive, academic, social class, maltreatment history) mediate these relationships.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal study of 697 parent-offspring dyads, including previously maltreated children and matched controls.
Standardized measures assessed cognitive and academic functioning in both parents and offspring.
Hierarchical linear regressions analyzed predictors of offspring functioning, controlling for demographic variables.

Main Results:

Childhood maltreatment showed associations with poorer cognitive and academic performance across generations.
While maltreatment predicted offspring functioning in initial models, parental cognitive functioning emerged as the key predictor in the final model.
Parental academic functioning and maltreatment history also predicted offspring academic performance.

Conclusions:

Findings challenge the direct causal link between childhood maltreatment and deficits in cognitive/academic functioning.
Intervention strategies for maltreated children may need to address parental factors and intergenerational influences more comprehensively.