Key Points
- Emotional abuse has become the most common form of child abuse, a new study reveals.
- Emotional abuse involves a pattern of behaviors that undermine a child’s self-esteem.
- One in five Australians do not recognize that withholding love and affection constitutes emotional abuse, a study has found.
Australian children are facing more psychological abuse than ever before.
New research reveals that this form of abuse has become the most common in the country. But only half of Australians would report concerns about suspected child abuse to authorities.
Dr. Katrina Lines is the Executive Director of Act for Kids, an organization that provides therapy and support to children and families at risk.
She said emotional abuse is one of five recognized forms of child abuse, but the signs may not be as obvious.
Lines believes it is essential to shed light on emotional abuse and its impact on children.
“Emotional abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse, but it often goes unnoticed or unreported,” she said.
What is psychological violence?
Emotional abuse is a type of behavior that damages a child’s self-esteem.
This may manifest as constant yelling, swearing, insults, criticism, threats toward a child, hurtful insults, or shaming them.
The study by national children’s organization Act for Kids shows that 57% of the 45,400 Australian children surveyed confirmed being victims of violence between 2022 and 2023. More than half of those surveyed aged 14 to 17 witnessed psychological violence at school.
The study also reveals that 87 per cent of Australians agree that emotional abuse is a serious problem in Australia, but nine in ten underestimate the prevalence of childhood abuse.
And one in five Australians do not recognize that withholding love and affection is a form of psychological abuse.
Dr Kaye Pickering, executive director of service operations at Act for Kids, said emotional abuse can have long-term negative impacts on children’s overall wellbeing.
“It hurts their self-esteem and their ability to see themselves as worthy. It can impact their academic performance,” he said.
“If children are constantly told they are not good enough, or given negative information about themselves and belittled and humiliated, it can impact their ability to succeed in college. school.
“It can also create anxiety and depression, which can persist in children for a very long time or throughout their lives.”
Impact similar to that of sexual abuse
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) is a landmark study of the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia.
Conducted between 2023 and 2024, this study found that 30.9% of Australian children experience psychological abuse before the age of 18.
David Lawrence, professor of mental health and ACMS contributor, said the report found the impact of sexual abuse was similar to that of psychological violence.
“When we looked at the relative contribution of each of the types of maltreatment, we found that emotional abuse and sexual abuse were almost exactly equal in terms of their strength of association with poor risk factor outcomes throughout of their lives,” he said. .
He added that people who had experienced sexual abuse and people who had experienced emotional abuse were most likely to suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, self-harm tendencies and substance abuse. throughout their lives.
Major contributor to Australia’s mental health crisis
Research by Health and Wellbeing Queensland this week revealed more than half of young Queenslanders are feeling stressed and anxious, have less energy than usual, are gaining weight and feeling less resilient.
The study also found that one in ten people felt constantly depressed.
“Young Queenslanders, who should be our most vibrant, energetic and hopeful generation, are struggling,” Health and Wellbeing Queensland deputy chief executive Gemma Hodgetts said on Tuesday.
Women and girls aged 14 to 25 are also more likely to experience lower impacts on their well-being.
Hodgetts said 75 percent of mental disorders appear before the age of 24, so help is needed immediately to support young people.
Professor Daryl Higgins, director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University, said the ACMS report shows psychological abuse is a major contributor to the health crisis mental health in Australia.
“We actually need to run a prevention program and use the strategies that we know work.
“Like giving parents access to evidence-based parenting programs and […] send messages about what works and help and support parents to do their best in raising their children.
With reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people under 25).
More mental health information and support is available at and at 1300 22 4636.
