1 Psychology Department, Queens College and The Graduate Center City University of New York Flushing, NY ,USA.
2 Psychology Department, John Jay College and The Graduate Center City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2019 Feb;24(1):3-16. doi: 10.1177/1077559518808218. Epub 2018 Nov 18.
Research shows that maltreated children are at elevated risk of arrest as adults and that higher verbal intelligence, reading ability, and executive functioning (abstract reasoning and cognitive flexibility) may be protective against criminal behavior. The current study examines this hypothesis using data from court-substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect and demographically matched controls followed prospectively into middle adulthood ( N = 1,196). At age 29, verbal intelligence was assessed with the Quick Test and reading ability with the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. At age 41, abstract reasoning was assessed with the Matrix Reasoning Test and cognitive flexibility with the Trail Making Test-B. Arrest records were gathered from law enforcement agencies through mean age 51. Data were analyzed with binomial logistic regressions. The results indicated that maltreated children were at increased risk of arrest for nonviolent and violent crime. Higher verbal intelligence, reading ability, nonverbal reasoning, and cognitive flexibility were protective against arrest for violent crime. The protective effects of neuropsychological functions were more pronounced for violent than nonviolent crime, for the control than maltreated children, and differed by gender and race. These results suggest that interventions targeting improved cognitive and neuropsychological functions may serve an important role in reducing risk of crime.
研究表明，受虐待的儿童成年后被捕的风险更高，较高的语言智力、阅读能力和执行功能（抽象推理和认知灵活性）可能对犯罪行为具有保护作用。本研究使用来自经法庭证实的虐待和忽视儿童案例以及在进入中年（N=1196）之前进行前瞻性随访的人口统计学匹配对照的数据来检验这一假设。在 29 岁时，使用快速测试评估语言智力，使用广泛成就测试修订版评估阅读能力。在 41 岁时，使用矩阵推理测试评估抽象推理，使用追踪测试 B 评估认知灵活性。通过执法机构收集了截止到 51 岁的逮捕记录。使用二项逻辑回归分析数据。结果表明，受虐待的儿童被捕的非暴力和暴力犯罪风险增加。较高的语言智力、阅读能力、非语言推理和认知灵活性可预防暴力犯罪被捕。神经心理功能的保护作用在暴力犯罪中比非暴力犯罪更明显，在对照组中比受虐待的儿童更明显，并且性别和种族存在差异。这些结果表明，针对改善认知和神经心理功能的干预措施可能在降低犯罪风险方面发挥重要作用。
