United Kingdom: A new study has found that parents, teachers, and other adults shouting at or verbally threatening children can have the same adverse effect on their development as sexual or physical abuse. The study, published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, analysed 166 earlier studies to produce a detailed analysis of the topic.
Child maltreatment is currently classified into four categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, of which verbal abuse is a part, and neglect. The latest study informs strategies for prevention and treatment to tackle the negative impacts.
Unlike other forms of emotional abuse, including indifference, silent treatment, and witnessing domestic violence, researchers categorised verbal abuse as more “overt” and noted that it “warrants special attention.”
The study, commissioned by Words Matter, a British charity that aims to improve children’s health by ending verbal abuse, was carried out by researchers at Wingate University in North Carolina and University College London.
“Childhood verbal abuse desperately needs to be acknowledged as an abuse subtype because of the lifelong negative consequences,” Professor Shanta Dube, the study’s lead author and director of Wingate University’s Master of Public Health Programme, remarked in a statement.
The study further suggested the lasting effects of childhood verbal abuse can manifest as mental distress, such as depression and anger; externalising symptoms, such as committing crimes, substance use, or perpetrating abuse; and physical health outcomes, such as developing obesity or lung disease.
Ms. Jessica Bondy, the founder of Words Matter, commented that “all adults get overloaded sometimes and say things unintentionally. We have to work collectively to devise ways to recognise these actions and end childhood verbal abuse by adults so children can flourish.”
Researchers further called for a “need for consistency” in defining childhood verbal abuse so that its “prevalence and impact can be appropriately measured and interventions developed.”
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