Intellectual Development of Battered Children

Abstract

Thirty eight children who had been admitted to hospital at an average of Ave and one half years previously because of physical abuse were compared with a control group of children matched for age, sex ethnic group and for social class of their parents. The abused children had significantly lower mean scores than the comparison children on the verbal, performance and full scale scores of the WISC-R and the WPPSI. The severity of injuries originally inflicted on the children was not sufficient to account for these discrepancies. The abused children were also significantly behind the comparison group on reading age.As most abused children remain in a disturbed family environment, a long-term treatment program should be provided for the children to try to prevent some of these adverse effects.