Early childhood education as a resilience intervention for maltreated children

The profound injuries caused by child maltreatment are well documented in the neurological, attachment, cognitive, and developmental literature. In this review paper, we explore the potential of early childhood education (ECE) as a community-based resilience intervention for mitigating the impacts of child abuse and neglect and supporting families in difficulty. There is clear empirical evidence that providing quality ECE to disadvantaged and vulnerable families in conjunction with other services (e.g. parenting education) is associated with positive outcomes. Challenges facing ECE centres, such as integrating children with behavioural, cognitive, and socio-emotional difficulties, are considered. Examples of successful programmes are presented.