Lor supports one new research published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect. According to experts, scolding children harshly should be recognized as a form of abuse for the enormous damage it causes. Parents who yell at their children or call them “stupid” expose them – in the long term – to the risk of self-harm, drug use and committing abuse themselves.
Yelling at children is as harmful as physical or sexual abuse. A new study
Yelling, denigration of the child and verbal threats can be «as harmful to a child’s development as other currently recognized subtypes of maltreatment and established by forensic medicine, such as childhood physical and sexual abuse”, the experts point out.
The study was commissioned by Words Mattera British charity that aims to improve children’s health by putting an end to verbal abuse.
The long-term negative impact of verbal abuse on children
“Childhood verbal abuse desperately needs to be recognized as a subtype of abuse due to its negative lifelong consequences,” the professor said in a statement. Shanta Dubelead author of the study and director of the Wingate University Master of Public Health Program.
“Adults are often unaware of how their tone and certain words such as ‘stupid’ and ‘lazy’ can have a negative impact.”
Professor Peter Fonagy, head of the division of psychology and language sciences at University College London (UCL), spoke about the impact in particular. «Exposure to verbal abuse is associated with persistent psychological distress, complex emotional and relational difficulties, physical and mental disorders. But also with a greater probability of recreate abusive situations in their lives: for example finding a partner who abuses them, or finding themselves repeating the abuse with others.”
Using words to intimidate, shame, and control may seem less harmful than a physical threat. It is not so.
WHO: physical abuse decreases, verbal abuse increases
The analysis conducted by Dube, Fonagy and other UCL academics also cites a research of the World Health Organization according to which 36.1% of children worldwide have experienced emotional abuse, including verbal abuse. This is much higher than the 25% who experienced sexual abuse and the 22% who experienced physical abuse.
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