The Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Brain Development

KEY CONCEPTS • Childhood maltreatment can be defined as ‘any acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child’ (Child Maltreatment Surveillance, 2008). • These acts do not have to be intentional in order to be classed as maltreatment. Acts of commission include various forms of abuse: physical, emotional or sexual abuse (Leeb, 2008). • Physical abuse refers to the cause of a physical injury by nonaccidental means i.e. bruises caused by spanking. Sexual abuse refers to attempted or actual sexual contact or exposure to sexual stimuli i.e. exposure to pornographic films, rape. Emotional maltreatment is referred to when a child’s emotional needs are not met i.e. witnessing violence between caregivers, constant screaming or cursing at the child or when a caregiver is insensitive to a child’s developmental level and needs i.e. a school-aged child is not allowed to play with friends (English & the LONGSCAN Investigators, 1997). • Acts of omission include various forms of neglect that result in failure to provide for a child’s emotional, physical, medical or educational needs or a lack of adequate supervision of a child (Leeb, 2008). Examples of neglect include having children not attend school i.e.educational neglect) or leaving the child with an intoxicated caregiver i.e. lack of adequate supervision; (English & the LONGSCAN Investigators, 1997). • Children often experience multiple types of maltreatment (Herrenkohl & Herrenkohl, 2009). One exception might be the institutional deprivation experienced by Romanian children in orphanages under the Ceausescu regime that marks an especially severe case of global i.e. social, physical and emotional neglec