Article Summary

Background Neglect is often overlooked in adolescence, due in part to assumptions about
autonomy and misinterpretation of behaviors being part of normal adolescent development.
Emotional maltreatment (abuse or neglect) has a damaging effect throughout the lifespan, but is
rarely recognized amongst adolescents. Our review aims to identify features that adolescents
experiencing neglect and/ or emotional maltreatment report.
Method A rapid review methodology searched 8 databases (1990-2014), supplemented by hand
searching journals, and references, identifying 2,568 abstracts. Two independent reviews were
undertaken of 279 articles, by trained reviewers, using standardised critical appraisal. Eligible studies:
primary studies of children aged 13-17 years, with substantiated neglect and/ or emotional
maltreatment, containing self-reported features.
Results 19 publications from 13 studies were included, demonstrating associations between both
neglect and emotional maltreatment with internalising features (9 studies) including depression,
post traumatic symptomatology and anxiety; emotional maltreatment was associated with suicidal
ideation, while neglect was not (1 study); neglect was associated with alcohol related problems (3
studies), substance misuse (2 studies), delinquency for boys (1 study), teenage pregnancy (1 study),
and general victimization for girls (1 study), while emotionally maltreated girls reported more
externalising symptoms (1 study). Dating violence victimization was associated with neglect and
emotional maltreatment (2 studies), while emotional abuse of boys, but not neglect, was associated
with dating violence perpetration (1 study), and neither neglect nor emotional maltreatment had an
association with low self-esteem (2 studies). Neither neglect nor emotional maltreatment had an
effect on school performance (1 study), but neglected boys showed greater school engagement
than neglected girls (1 study).
Conclusions If asked, neglected or emotionally maltreated adolescents describe significant
difficulties with their mental health, social relationships, and alcohol or substance misuse.
Practitioners working with youths who exhibit these features should recognize the detrimental
impact of maltreatment at this developmental stage, and i