Parents, take note! Physically neglecting your kids may increase their risk of turning into violent adolescents, according to new research.
In a study of currently incarcerated male adolescents, physical neglect during childhood arose as the strongest predictor of violent behaviour, researchers said.
"One of the problems with studying neglect is that it is an act of omission, rather than one of commission. In other words, it is characterised as the absence of an act, rather than an actual act of mistreatment," said William McGuigan, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Shenango.
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"However, now we have better measures and larger databases to document neglect," said McGuigan.
Examples of physical neglect include not taking a sick or injured child to the doctor, improperly clothing a child and not feeding a child, according to the researchers.
The study indicated that while physical abuse is a significant contributor to violent behaviour, physical neglect alone is an even stronger predictor of male adolescent violence than physical abuse, or even physical abuse and neglect combined.
"It sounds somewhat contrarian, but the physical abuse might at least show that parents are paying some type of attention to the child," said McGuigan.
McGuigan said that understanding how neglect can influence violent behaviour in adolescent males may lead to better education for caregivers and better care for at-risk youths.
"We have to look more into neglect and become more aware of how it may cause some of these violent behaviours," said McGuigan.
"From that, we can build early preventative care programmes than can help avoid these negative outcomes," said McGuigan.
The research could also create assessments that, for example, might help protect people who care for adolescents by identifying youths who are more prone to violence.
The researchers analysed data taken from a survey of 85 subjects, who are residents of a Pennsylvania detention centre for delinquent males.
In the survey, 25 of the participants, or 29.4 per cent of the group, said that they experienced at least one incidence of childhood neglect.
Acts of violence included fighting with students or parents, hitting teachers or instructors and using a weapon to scare, rob or injure another person.
The finding was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco.
