Shouting at children can be just as harmful to them as sexual or physical abuse with lifelong consequences. According to a study published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, childhood verbal abuse (CVA) should be formally recognised as a form of maltreatment.
The most common perpetrators of CVA are parents (76.5 per cent), teachers (12.71 per cent), adult caregivers at home (2.4 per cent) and coaches (0.6 per cent). Verbal abuse include shouting, screaming, belittling, shaming and verbal threats. These are often normalised in some cultures as a form of discipline. But verbal abuse can have a lasting impact on the child’s emotional and psychological wellbeing and manifest as anger, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, self-harm and obesity. “Preventing the maltreatment of children is the most effective way we can reduce the prevalence of child mental health problems,” the study noted.
The World Health Organization says emotional abuse has surpassed physical or sexual abuse as the leading form of child maltreatment. Verbal abuse is an important contributor to emotional abuse. Currently, there are four subtypes of childhood maltreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. Recognising verbal abuse as a maltreatment subtype will be a “starting point for its identification and prevention”.