Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14608, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2013 Aug;18(3):155-70. doi: 10.1177/1077559513496144. Epub 2013 Jul 10.
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.
本研究考察了儿童在生命的头四年中受到忽视对幼儿园和一年级适应学校的影响，同时也考虑了邻里贫困（NP）的背景。研究了与发展学校能力相关的过程，包括认知功能和自我韧性（ER）在塑造儿童学校成果方面的中介作用。共有 170 名低收入城市儿童在 2 年内（4-6 岁）进行了前瞻性随访。结果表明，与未受忽视的儿童相比，受忽视的儿童在幼儿园课堂行为和一年级学业成绩方面的得分明显较低。控制母亲智商后，儿童在 4 岁时的认知表现，在严重忽视与儿童在幼儿园的行为以及他们在一年级的学业表现之间起中介作用。此外，忽视的严重程度与儿童在 4 岁时的 ER 有关。然而，以 NP 形式出现的额外生态逆境调节了 ER 与课堂行为之间的联系，因此在贫困程度较低的情况下，ER 中介了严重忽视与学校适应之间的关系。相反，当 NP 极端时，ER 的影响减弱，ER 不再预测幼儿园的行为表现。这些发现对预防和干预具有重要意义。
