Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds
Analysis suggests long-term damage to wellbeing can be worse than for children experiencing physical abuse
Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found.
The studies used all involved questions on childhood physical and verbal abuse using the validated Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) tool and the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale to measure individual and combined components of adult mental wellbeing.
Participants were asked over a two-week period about their mental wellbeing, with responses given a score to determine whether the participant had a low or high sense of mental wellbeing.
While physical abuse was associated with a 52% increase in the likelihood of a person experiencing low mental wellbeing as an adult, verbal abuse was linked to a slightly higher likelihood at 64%, according to analysis of the results.
The analysis also found that, even when physical abuse was part of a person’s childhood experiences, participants who also experienced verbal abuse faced additional risks. The prevalence of low mental wellbeing for those who had experienced no abuse stood at 16%, rising to 22.5% for physical abuse, 24% for verbal abuse, and 29% for both physical and verbal abuse.
Furthermore, the prevalence of physical abuse halved from about 20% among those born between 1950 and 1979 to 10% among participants born in or after 2000. However, for verbal abuse, the prevalence increased from 12% among those born before 1950 to about 20% among those born in 2000 or later.
These findings add to previous research that found experiencing childhood verbal abuse was linked to a higher risk of self-harm, drug use and ending up in jail.
She added: “Any gains made in reducing physical abuse risk being undone by rising rates of verbal abuse. We must act now to confront the lasting harm caused by cruel, critical or controlling language. We need to build children up – not knock them down. The mental health of the next generation and our shared future depend on it.”
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Bad parenting causes irreparable damage to children. Single mothers, mothers having children with criminal scum, criminal scum stepdads etc. cause big problems. What sex is more likely to verbally and psychologically torment their kids?
My single, Cluster B, mentally ill, evil, alcoholic mother treated me really badly when I was young. She was very cruel. For instance anything that I was interested or excited about she would insult and mock. If I got into football she would say I was slow and fat and could never do any good. If I got into playing the guitar she would say I had no talent and people would laugh at me if I tried. If I went to get some cool clothes she would say I was ugly and no clothes would help etc. etc.
When I grew up I tried telling some friends of the family that she was like this and they just refused to listen, changed the subject, then told her what I'd said behind my back. Or more likely, a distorted and exaggerated version of what I'd said. Of course it was women I tried telling, I didn't know any better then.
I don't think she's human, I think it's a demon impersonating a human. There are some particular experiences I had which I don't want to post, but which imply this quite strongly. She actually used to scream in my face that I should kill myself. Physically abused me as well, when I was too small to stop it.
