Verbal abuse among children has same impact as physical abuse—study
New research found that cruel and harsh words toward children have as much effect as physical harm in causing poor mental health.
According to the study published on BMJ Open, individuals who experienced physical abuse in childhood had a 50% higher risk of reporting poor mental health in adulthood compared to those who were not abused. Those subjected to verbal abuse faced a 60% higher likelihood of low well-being.
Researchers noted that in England and Wales, the prevalence of physical abuse has halved, from 20% among those born between 1950 and 1979 to 10% among those born in or after 2000. Verbal abuse cases, however, have risen.
In the United States, meanwhile, over 60% of participants in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2023 reported experiencing emotional abuse, while 31.8% reported physical abuse. The survey used the term "emotional" instead of "verbal" abuse, though it asked participants about similar behaviors like in the new research.
Researchers in the 2025 study examined data from over 20,000 adults across seven studies in England and Wales. They assessed childhood experiences using the Adverse Childhood Experiences tool, a questionnaire that assesses the types and frequency of potentially traumatic events while young, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, a questionnaire designed to measure the positive aspects of mental health.
The “results suggest that verbal abuse in childhood can leave mental health scars as deep and long-lasting as those caused by physical abuse," said Dr. Mark Bellis, the study's lead author who works as a professor of public health and behavioral sciences at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom.
Verbal abuse elements
Dr. Shanta Dube, professor of epidemiology and director of the department of public health at the Levine College of Health Sciences at Wingate University in North Carolina, told CNN that emotional abuse is “often tied to the act of verbal abuse and therefore verbal abuse can often get lost.”
Dube, who wasn't part of the study, noted that the increase in verbal abuse—alongside the decline in physical abuse—highlights the need to raise awareness about spoken abuse, especially given its long-term effects.
“Verbal abuse may be eroding the mental health benefits we should expect from successful efforts to reduce physical abuse,” she added.
Dr. Andrea Danese, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at King’s College London and adjunct clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center, told CNN that while it's difficult to determine what language is harsh and what is verbal abuse, it can include blaming, insulting, scolding, criticizing, or threatening children.
“Think about the use of derogatory terms or statements intended to frighten, humiliate, denigrate or belittle a person,” said Danese, who was also not involved in the study. “It is often unintentional.”
Dube pointed out that remarks like, “Johnny can do it. Why can’t you?” “You always make mistakes,” “You’re stupid,” or “You’re worthless" may be considered as such.
“Harsh, denigrating words spoken to children have lasting impacts," she said. "Children developmentally are concrete thinkers ‘it is or isn’t.'"
Danese noted that children depend on the language used by the adults around them to understand both themselves and the world. As a result, the way adults speak to children can have a powerful influence, either positive or negative.
“Being the subject of verbal abuse," he said, "can twist a young person’s understanding of who they are and their role in the world."
Not definitive
The researchers noted that the study is based on observational data and researchers cannot definitively conclude that verbal abuse in childhood causes poorer mental health in adulthood. It's just that the two aspects are linked.
Danese noted that those who experience verbal abuse in their youth may later develop trauma. Likewise, adults with poorer mental health may be more likely to remember their childhoods negatively.
As for Dube, the sample size was large enough, and the approach strengthens the existing evidence on the impacts of verbal abuse.
Child abuse in the Philippines
Last February, the Philippine Statistics Authority, citing a Department of Welfare and Administration administrative report, shared that in 2024, 1,967 girls and 897 boys suffered abuse—greater than the 1,575 girls and 616 boys abused in 2023. In 2022, some 2,240 girls and 1,376 were abused.
The PSA data didn't mention verbal abuse cases, but it noted that abuses included sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse, abandonment, child labor, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.
Of the 1,967 girls who have been abused last year, 746 of them are victims of unspecified abuses. Of the 897 boys abused that time, 452 experienced unspecified abuses.
UNICEF Philippines, meanwhile, noted that three out of five Filipino children experience violent discipline. One out of three students, meanwhile, suffers from bullying.
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If you think you, your friend, or your family member needs help, you may call the National Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 1553 (Luzon-wide, landline toll-free), 0966-351-4518 or 0917-899-USAP (8727) for Globe/TM users, or 0908-639-2672 for Smart users.
