Effects of Emotional Abuse

Taylor Doud

Mansfield University

PSY 3392: Child Psych Disorders

Professor Karen Crisp

November 6, 2022
 When someone hears the words abuse, we often tend to imagine that of a physical,

sexual, or violent nature. But abuse comes in many forms, and one we often overlook due to its

“invisible” appearance is emotional abuse. “Emotional abuse is any nonphysical behavior or

attitude that is designed to control, subdue, punish, or isolate another person through the use of

humiliation or fear.” (Karakurt and Silver) On the topic of emotional abuse, we will discover

how devastating its effects are, the symptoms of emotional abuse, and possible treatments for

those exposed to emotional abuse.

If emotional abuse is nonphysical, then how can we even detect what it is and where it

comes from? Emotional abuse “targets the emotional and psychological well-being of the victim.

Emotional abuse can include verbal assault, dominance, control, isolation, ridicule, or the use of

intimate knowledge for degradation” (Karakurt and Silver) Emotional abuse does not

discriminate and can be found in multiple types of relationships such as friends, parents,

partners, and even colleagues. Neil Jacobson and John Gottman, who is well-known for his work

with relationships and marriage, developed an emotional abuse questionnaire with four

categories of abuse that included sexual coercion, attempts to isolate the partner and make them

feel lonely, destruction to pets or property as an intimidation tactic, and degradation both

publicly and privately. Sexual coercion often looks like one partner who is made to feel

“ashamed, guilty, or afraid to refuse” the other partner and this can happen many times without

ever using any physical force.

“Jacobson and Gottman found severe emotional abuse were more likely to drive women

out of a relationship than severe physical abuse.” (Karakurt and Silver) There are even some

forms of physical acts that can be considered emotional abuse because they insinuate actual
physical violence. Some examples of this include punching a wall, throwing things, raising a

hand or shaking a fist, and even recklessly driving with the victim in the vehicle.

After seeing all the ways emotional abuse can manifest itself, it is important to see the

way this type of abuse can affect those exposed to it. Emotional abuse can often happen to

children from their parents. Studies have found too that children exposed to an emotionally

abusive environment are at a predisposition to develop a violent partnership intimately in their

adolescence and adulthood. (Bell and Higgins) Not only does experiencing emotional abuse at a

young age predispose the victim to repeat relationship patterns, but it also exposes the victim to

experiential avoidance as a coping mechanism. “Experiential avoidance is a process in which a

person is unwilling to experience and attempts to avoid unwanted private experiences (e.g.,

distressing thoughts, sensations, memories, or emotions). Experiential avoidance is associated

with psychological distress and numerous clinical problems including substance abuse,

somatization, self-harm behaviors, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.” (Bell and Higgins)

Experiential avoidance was also linked to possible emotional inhibitions and aggressions.

Emotional abuse often creates psychological distress which can also affect one's daily life in the

ways they cope and problem-solve. (Bell and Higgins) We also see in children who have been

emotionally abused or neglected that their cognitive abilities have been seen with deficits which

may lead to difficulty in emotional processing. Along with these difficulties in emotional

processing, we also see an increased risk for anxiety and depression. (Young and Widom)

If one is exposed to such emotional abuse either early on in their life or during adulthood,

there are some steps one can take to help reduce the effects or treat their current state. In early

childhood, it may be hard to detect some of the abuse tactics since we cannot physically see

them, so it is critical to watch for warning signs both from the parent's or caregiver’s abusive

behaviors and the children's reactions to them, such as their self-esteem, self-talk, fears,
regressions, and social changes. (Idaho Youth Ranch) If we recognize these behaviors, treatment

is often needed and it depends on the severity of the situation, which means all treatments must

be tailored to each specific situation. If the abuse came from a lack of needs provided, certain

community resources may be utilized in order to help fulfill those needs, such as health care

expense programs, supplementary food programs, childcare providers, and even parenting

resources. Treatment becomes more intrinsic when the abuse is psychologically mal intended.

For the child, they would most likely need to be separated from the abuser and mental health

support would be recommended for all parties, both offending and non-offending. (Botash) In

adulthood, these wounds can stem from early childhood or from a more recent adult relationship.

An outpatient trauma focused clinic created a therapy framework that attempts to build trust,

attachment, and relationships, tolerance of intense emotions, and a sense of self, as their

treatment for these maltreatment issues. This institute claims that “these capacities were either

not acquired in early childhood or were built in distorted ways because of the lack of adequately

responsive and consistent emotional support in childhood.” (Grossman et al.) They break down

their framework in four parts to focus on “relationship (working within a relational frame),

regulation (increasing self-regulatory capacity), parts (working with dissociative parts), and

narrative (identity development, integration, and meaning-making of traumatic and other life

experiences through narrative work as both therapist and client come to construct a shared

understanding of the client’s story).

Emotional abuse is complex and has many effects on both a child's and adult's well-

being. Abuse is never acceptable, and the effects are often incredibly intense. Its ability to sneak

by unseen makes it harder to cope with but knowing there is effective treatment gives us hope

knowing the effects do not have to be permanent.

 Works Cited

Bell, Kathryn M., and Lorrin Higgins. “The Impact of Childhood Emotional Abuse and

Experiential Avoidance on Maladaptive Problem Solving and Intimate Partner Violence.”

Behavioral Sciences, vol. 5, no. 2, 16 Apr. 2015, pp. 154–175,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493441/, 10.3390/bs5020154.

Botash, Ann S. “Emotional Abuse TREATMENT and FOLLOW-up :: Child Abuse MD

ChildAbuseMD.com :: Child Abuse Evaluation & Treatment for Medical Providers ::

SUNY Upstate Medical University.” Www.childabusemd.com,

www.childabusemd.com/treatment/treatment-emotional-abuse.shtml.

Grossman, Frances K., et al. “APA PsycNet.” Psycnet.apa.org, 2017,

psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2017-01147-002.html.

Idaho Youth Ranch. “Understanding Emotional Child Abuse.” Www.youthranch.org,

www.youthranch.org/blog/understanding-emotional-child-abuse.

Karakurt, Günnur, and Kristin E Silver. “Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships: The Role

of Gender and Age.” Violence and Victims, vol. 28, no. 5, 2013, pp. 804–21,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876290/.

Young, Joanna Cahall, and Cathy Spatz Widom. “Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse and

Neglect on Emotion Processing in Adulthood.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 38, no. 8,

Aug. 2014, pp. 1369–1381, 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.03.008.