Oct 10, 2023 07:00:00

'Verbal abuse' has a strong negative impact on children and increases the risk of cannabis use and imprisonment

When many people hear the word abuse, they may think of physical violence, sexual abuse, or

neglect . However, research has shown that ``verbal abuse,'' which involves verbally yelling or taunting children, also has a strong negative impact on children, increasing the risk of children using cannabis or going to prison in the future.

Childhood verbal abuse as a child maltreatment subtype: A systematic review of the current evidence - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213423003824

Calls for verbal abuse of children by adults to be formally recognized as form of child maltreatment | UCL News - UCL – University College London
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/oct/calls-verbal-abuse-children-adults-be-formally-recognised-form-child-maltreatment

Shouting at children can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse, study says | Children | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/02/shouting-at-children-can-be-as-damaging-as-physical-or-sexual-abuse-study-says

Child abuse is mainly classified into four categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse, but of these, emotional abuse is mainly based on how children feel. , it is unclear what constitutes abuse in an adult's actions. A research team from University College London and Wingate University therefore proposes adopting the term 'verbal abuse', which focuses on the behavior of adults rather than how children feel.

Verbal abuse includes belittling a child, shouting at a child, or saying threatening things to a child. However, in some countries and regions, strong language towards children is accepted as ``discipline'' or is not clearly seen as a problem, so efforts to prevent verbal abuse have not made much progress. To shed light on this issue, the research team analyzed the results of various previous studies on child abuse and conducted a systematic review on verbal abuse.

The research team analyzed 149 quantitative and 17 qualitative studies and found that children who were verbally abused had a range of negative outcomes for their mental health and behavior as adults compared to those who were not verbally abused. I found out that it appears.

The graph below shows the results of a survey of over 20,000 subjects aged 18 to 69 living in the UK regarding the presence or absence of verbal abuse and various experiences. Red color represents subjects who were verbally abused as children, and gray color represents subjects who were not verbally abused. More than 20% of subjects who had experienced verbal abuse said they felt their mental well-being was low, while less than 15% of those who had not experienced verbal abuse. Subjects who had experienced verbal abuse as children were significantly more likely to respond to questions such as ``heavy drinking,'' ``Have been to prison,'' ``Become a victim of violence,'' and ``Become a perpetrator of violence.'' The results show that there are many

In addition, in a British study of 1,000 subjects aged 11 to 17, 41% of the respondents said that an adult had used hurtful words to criticize, insult, or criticize them. The most common perpetrators of verbal abuse were parents at 76.5%, adult guardians at home at 2.4%, teachers at 12.71%, club coaches at 0.6%, and police at 0.6%. .

Words that made children feel hurt and upset included things like, 'You're worthless,' 'You're an idiot,' and 'You can't do anything right.' On the other hand, it has been reported that the words that children received positively included things like ``I'm proud of you,'' ``You can do it,'' and ``I believe in you.''

'Children are genetically wired to trust what adults say,' said study co-author Professor Peter Fonagy, a psychologist at University College London. If we use language that betrays that trust and abuses rather than teaching, children will not only feel shame, isolation, and exclusion, but will also feel threatened by the community. 'They become less able to engage socially and benefit from social learning.'

The research team points out that although children who have experienced emotional abuse, including verbal abuse, are more likely than children who have experienced sexual or physical abuse, it is not clearly defined and therefore receives less attention. In fact, even in the studies reviewed this time, the terminology used to refer to ``verbal abuse'' varied depending on the study.

Fonagy says, 'Using words to intimidate, shame, or control may seem clearly less harmful than a physical threat. 'Abuse can increase similar risks, including lower self-esteem, nicotine and alcohol abuse, increased drug addiction, anxiety, and depression.'

Lead author of the paper, Professor Chanter Dube from University College London, said: 'Childhood verbal abuse has lifelong negative effects and needs to be recognized as a subtype of abuse. Through awareness-raising and interventions that target perpetrators of physical and sexual abuse, we have seen progress in reducing these forms of abuse.' 'Similar activities could be developed to prevent verbal abuse and its consequences,' he said, calling for a change in the behavior of adults.