Around 14% of Americans report experiencing emotional abuse or neglect during their childhood. Emotional abuse can include:
Insulting, name-calling, or swearing at a child Threatening to physically harm the child Terrorizing or otherwise making the child feel afraid
Emotional neglect involves failing to meet a child’s emotional needs. This can include failing to:
Believe in the childCreate a close-knit familyMake the child feel special or importantProvide supportWant the child to be successful
How Abuse Alters Brain Structure
As children grow, their brains undergo periods of rapid development. Negative experiences can disrupt those developmental periods, leading to changes in the brain later on. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database. Research supports this idea and suggests that the timing and duration of childhood abuse can impact the way it affects those children later in life. Abuse that occurs early in childhood for a prolonged period of time, for example, can lead to particularly negative outcomes. Dr. Martin Teicher and his colleagues at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Northeastern University studied this relationship between abuse and brain structure by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to identify measured changes in brain structure among young adults who had experienced childhood abuse or neglect. They found clear differences in nine brain regions between those who had experienced childhood trauma and those who had not. The most obvious changes were in the brain regions that help balance emotions and impulses, as well as self-aware thinking. The study’s results indicate that people who have been through childhood abuse or neglect do have an increased risk of developing mental health issues later on.
Effects on Brain Structure
Childhood abuse and neglect can have several negative effects on how the brain develops. Some of these are:
Decreased size of the corpus callosum, which integrates cortical functioning—motor, sensory, and cognitive performances—between the hemispheres Decreased size of the hippocampus, which is important in learning and memory Dysfunction at different levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is involved in the stress response Less volume in the prefrontal cortex, which affects behavior, emotional balance, and perception Overactivity in the amygdala, which is responsible for processing emotions and determining reactions to potentially stressful or dangerous situations Reduced volume of the cerebellum, which can affect motor skills and coordination
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Effects on Behavior, Emotions, and Social Function
Because childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma change brain structure and chemical function, maltreatment can also affect the way children behave, regulate emotions, and function socially. These potential effects include:
Being constantly on alert and unable to relax, no matter the situationFeeling fearful most or all of the timeFinding social situations more challengingLearning deficitsNot hitting developmental milestones in a timely fashionA tendency to develop a mental health conditionA weakened ability to process positive feedback
These effects can continue to cause issues in adulthood if they’re not addressed. Adults who experienced maltreatment during childhood may have trouble with interpersonal relationships—or they may avoid them altogether. This outcome could be related to attachment theory, or the idea that our early relationships with caregivers influence the way we relate to people later on in life. Emotional abuse and neglect don’t allow for a secure attachment to form between a child and caregiver, which causes distress for the child and influences the way they see themselves and others. Adults who went through childhood emotional abuse or neglect may also experience:
Emotional dysregulation Feelings of hopelessness Low self-esteem Negative automatic thoughts Problems coping with stressors
Treatment
Through treatment, it is possible to address the effects of childhood emotional abuse and neglect. Treatment in these cases is highly individual since maltreatment can take many forms and each person’s response to it may differ.
How often the abuse occurredThe age the child was during the abuseWho the abuser wasWhether or not the child had a dependable, loving adult in their lifeHow long the abuse lastedIf there were any interventions in the abuseThe kind and severity of the abuseOther individual factors
Any form of treatment would likely include therapy and, depending on whether or not any other mental health conditions are present, may include medication as well. Some effective forms of therapy are:
Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy involves interacting with something that typically provokes fear while slowly learning to remain calm. This form of therapy may improve neural connections between several regions in the brain. Family therapy: Family therapy is a psychological treatment intended to improve relationships within the entire family and create a better, more supportive home environment. This type of treatment may improve HPA axis functioning and lead to a healthier stress response. Mindfulness-based approaches: Mindfulness-based therapy focuses on helping people develop a sense of awareness of their thoughts and feelings so they can understand them and better regulate them. These approaches may help improve resiliency against stress by benefiting several brain regions and improving neural connections. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT): TF-CBT focuses on helping people learn new coping skills, restructure negative or unhelpful thoughts, regulate their moods, and overcome trauma by crafting a trauma narrative. This form of therapy may help reduce overactivity in the amygdala.
