Timing and influence of early experiences of child maltreatment and homelessness on children's educational well-being

Major national reports have highlighted the deleterious influence of early childhood familial risk factors that adversely influence young children's educational well-being. Guided by a developmental epidemiology framework, the purpose of the present population-based study was to examine the timing and influence of first experiences of substantiated child maltreatment and homelessness on children's academic achievement and attendance at the end of second grade for an entire cohort of 12,045 second grade students in a large, urban school district. Information on first experiences of substantiated child maltreatment and homelessness, birth risks, demographics, and academic achievement and attendance outcomes was obtained and linked through an integrated data system. Event history analyses were used to examine the timing of first experiences of homelessness and substantiated child maltreatment in early childhood. A series of multiple regression models was used to examine the relationship between first experiences of child maltreatment and homelessness on second grade academic achievement and attendance, when controlling for demographics, poverty, and birth risks. Results showed that after controlling for birth risks, poverty, and demographics, different patterns emerged for the influence of timing of first substantiated child maltreatment and homelessness on academic achievement and attendance. Practice and policy implications were discussed.