Seventy-four preschool-age maltreated children's receptive and expressive language, speech skills, general language and cognitive abilities were assessed to investigate the language, speech and cognitive skills of abused, neglected, and abused and neglected children. While all three groups were delayed, neglect was the type of maltreatment most strongly associated with both expressive and receptive language delays and overall language delay. The three groups did not differ in general cognitive development. The most important feature of our data, relative to a Vygotskian perpective, is that language development is particularly vulnerable in an environment devoid of parent-child social language exchange.
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