Emotional neglect may also include deprivation of love, stimulation and security. Although it is often forgotten or overlooked, the majority of fatalities due to child maltreatment are attributed to neglect. However, there are other factors involved. Often neglect is correlated with poverty and it is difficult to distinguish between what is immediately due to the neglect and what is a result of the poverty. For example, undernourishment may simply be an inability to afford the proper food, or it may be a lack of effort on the part of the parent.
Medical neglect is also difficult to study since more than one factor affects medical compliance.
This definition also applies to the abuse of a child by those not legally considered adults. Effects are numerous and can be long-term. They range from depression and low self-esteem to posttraumatic stress disorder, and multiple personality and borderline syndromes. It has been found that the vast majority of maltreated infants form insecure attachment relationships with their caregivers which, through development, tend to become anxious avoidant patterns of attachment. The style of attachment has been linked to later adaptation and development.