An aim of this research was to gain prevalence rates of emotional abuse (EA) and
emotional neglect (EN) in a community based adolescent sample. This exploratory
research also attempted to determine the impact of EA, EN and a combination of the
two (emotional maltreatment; EM) on adolescent’s emotion regulation (ER). The
impact of temperament, gender and age was also considered, along with the
adolescent’s subsequent quality of life ratings.
Method:
A total of 540 adolescents (mean age 14 years) were recruited through their
secondary schools, and completed the following questionnaires: the EN and EA
subtests of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein & Fink, 1994); the
Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire – Short Form (EATQ – SF; Ellis &
Rothbart, 1999); the Basic Emotions Scale (BES; Power, 2006); the Regulation of
Emotions Questionnaire (REQ; Phillips & Power, 2007) and the Kid Screen -10 item
Health Questionnaire for Children and Young People (Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2005).
Results:
Prevalence rates of EA and EN were reported. Differences were detected between
EA and EN in terms of how they affect experiences of basic emotions and how they
impact on ER, even after controlling for temperament. Only EA was associated with
aggression, whereas both EA and EN were associated with depressive mood and
reduced quality of life.
Conclusions:
EA and EN are different maltreatment experiences which have different detrimental
effects on the individual, therefore requiring different interventions