Early child maltreatment and reading processes, abilities, and achievement: A systematic review.

Background: Children with maltreatment histories demonstrate weaker reading abilities compared to their peers. However, the differential processes driving this effect remain unclear. Prior studies focused on social and behavioral factors explaining this effect, yet reading research has shown that one's ability to comprehend written text is driven by a set of underlying dynamic and interactive cognitive abilities.

Exploring the mediating effect of academic engagement on math and reading achievement for students who have experienced maltreatment.

Background: Students who experience maltreatment tend to underperform academically relative to their peers, requiring an understanding of academically-related mechanisms that are potential intervention targets. Academic engagement, a multidimensional construct that is influential in students' investment in learning and the school context, is one such mechanism that has been associated with positive academic outcomes and develops through interactions between students and their environment.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine how maltreatment experiences and trauma symptoms were indirectly associated with academic achievement in adolescence through academic engagement.