Neglect and adolescent internalizing mental health: Testing competing longitudinal hypotheses

Neglect remains understudied compared to other forms of maltreatment. While studies have shown that neglect has negative effects on mental health in adolescence, yet unresolved is whether these impacts result from critical period or cumulative effects. In the present article, we use a novel approach to compare these two hypotheses from the impact of two types of neglect, failure to provide (FTP) and lack of supervision (LOS), on adolescent depression and internalizing symptoms. Data derive from the LONGSCAN consortium, a diverse, multi-site, prospective study of children from approximately age 2-16. Despite our hypothesis that the critical period of early childhood would have the greatest impact on adolescent internalizing mental health, exposure to neglect during the critical period of adolescence (ages 12-16) was the best-fitting model for the effects of FTP neglect on depression, and the effects of LOS neglect on both depression and internalizing symptoms. The cumulative model (exposure across all time periods) best explained the effects of FTP neglect on internalizing symptoms. Results were robust to the addition of control variables, including other forms of maltreatment. These findings demonstrate that responding to neglect into adolescence must be considered as urgent for child welfare systems.