Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve:
- conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person;
- age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction;
- not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or making fun of what they say or how they communicate;
- causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger;
- seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another person;
- the exploitation or corruption of children;
- serious bullying, including cyber-bullying.
Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it may occur alone.
Signs that may suggest emotional abuse:
- excessive bedwetting/soiling, eating, rocking, head banging, aggression;
- self harm;
- attempted suicide;
- high levels of anxiety, unhappiness or withdrawal;
- seek out or avoid affection;
- sleeplessness/night terrors;
- food refusal;
- attention seeking;
