New findings reveal that 94% of UK adults who took part in the survey believe that emotional abuse in childhood can have a lasting psychological effect well into adulthood.
The NSPCC commissioned a YouGov survey that found that on average almost one in six (17%) UK adults could not correctly identify examples of emotional abuse.
Survey respondents were given a series of behaviours and asked to correctly identify what was deemed as emotional abuse. The scenarios where adults failed to identify emotional abuse correctly, included:
- Being overly controlling of a child’s life (25%).
- Never showing any emotions in interactions with a child (26%).
- Pushing a child too hard or not recognising their limitations (27%).
The research also found that two thirds (66%) of adults surveyed had not done any training or reading to help them recognise the signs of emotional abuse.
Emotional abuse is any type of abuse that involves the continual emotional mistreatment of a child. It can often be difficult to recognise, sometimes showing limited external signs.
Research suggests 1 in 15 children in the UK will experience emotional abuse, highlighting how prevalent the issue is and that it is a topic young people contact Childline about on a regular basis.
Last year they delivered almost 3,000 counselling sessions to children and young people where emotional abuse was the main concern, a 5% increase compared to 2022/23. Clare Miller, Chief Executive of Clarion Housing Group said:
“By facilitating sessions with the NSPCC to share their expertise and safeguarding advice, we have been able to ensure hundreds of our colleagues across the country have already taken part in Listen up, Speak up workshops.
We, like the NSPCC, are committed to making a positive impact in the community, and believe Listen up, Speak up is a terrific opportunity for everyone to find out how they can offer support to families or young people when they need it.”
