Objective measures of childhood emotional neglect
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Scot Robinson (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- David Solomon
Abstract: Research has shown that maltreatment in childhood can have serious effects on mental health outcomes in adulthood. While physical maltreatment has been well studied, the effects of childhood emotional maltreatment are less researched. This may be because emotional maltreatment does not leave visible signs or injuries, making it harder to identify and study (Kumari, 2020). Emotional maltreatment can take the form of either childhood emotional abuse or childhood emotional neglect. Emotional abuse is defined by behaviors such as yelling and swearing at the child and belittling them. Emotional neglect is the omission of behaviors that are required to meet the emotional needs of a child and may include lack of affection, ‘coldness’ toward the child, and not listening to their needs (Li et al., 2019). Childhood emotional neglect has often been overlooked or combined with childhood emotional abuse. When it has been studied independently, it is often measured with subjective questions, such as “I felt loved.” This is in contrast to all other forms of physical and emotional abuse, which are measured based on objective life events, rather than on the respondents’ subjective feelings as they reflect on their childhoods. The current study inquired if an objective measure of childhood emotional neglect would be more highly correlated with the expected adverse outcomes of depression, anxiety, and suicidality than subjective questions. This study used Steiger Z tests to determine if questions focused on objective historical events of emotional neglect would be more correlated with outcomes than questions focused on subjective feelings. It also used hierarchical linear regression to determine if objective measures of childhood emotional neglect had greater predictive power, over and above those of physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and subjective measures of emotional neglect in the prediction of depression, anxiety, and suicidality outcomes. Results indicated that objective measures of childhood emotional neglect were not more highly correlated with outcomes than subjective measures and did not have greater predictive power over and above those of physical abuse, physical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and subjective measures of emotional neglect. This indicates that objectively worded questions do not add specificity and, therefore, currently used measures that use more subjectively worded questions may be appropriate to use in both clinical and research settings.
Objective measures of childhood emotional neglect
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Created on 3/1/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Subjects
- Child abuse
- Psychological child abuse
- Mental illness