Since environment is such a large factor regarding acquiring language, authors of this article wanted to expand the literature and focus on how child maltreatment can impact language development. Authors hypothesized that children who experience neglect are more likely to have delays in language development compared to a child who experiences abuse or both abuse and neglect. The participants of this longitudinal study included 74 preschool-age children who were in child protective services due to child maltreatment and did not suffer from any other outstanding variable that would skew the results. These children were separated in three different groups depending on their maltreatment: abuse only, neglect only and both abuse and neglect. Participants
