Introduction
One of the primary global public health concerns, child abuse, has long-term, detrimental effects on mental and physical well-being and psychosocial development. Children who have experienced severe abuse are frequently placed in foster care and, as a group, are at an especially high risk of developing significant mental health outcomes. Abusive behaviors during childhood were linked to substantial cognitive delays and academic failure in adolescence and adulthood. Prevention methods and interventions are essential to protect children’s health and future. However, because the processes that increase the probability of child maltreatment are still poorly understood, finding the most successful prevention approaches is still challenging.
Child Abuse Consequences and Potential Solutions
Cases of child maltreatment are increasing yearly for various socioeconomic and other reasons. With a proven abuse prevalence of 9.1 per 1000 children in the United States alone, 3.5 million children are estimated for suspected of abuse per year (Zeanah & Humphreys, 2018). An organizational development system has served as a significant source of guidance for most of the study of the consequences of child abuse. As a result, it is considered that challenges are relevant at particular ages and stages, and that is still crucial to adaptation during life development. Early caregiving experiences impact the quality of current and future relationships because children build internal working prototypes based on early attachment relationships. Children who have been neglected and abused may have unfavorable expectations about the availability and trustworthiness of interactions due to the pathological care they have received and a bad self-image.
It is appropriate to examine the various patterns of the observed behavior to comprehend child abuse and its forms. Children are more likely to be abused when certain risk factors are present. A potential risk for child abuse could be any form of pressure on the family — one of the biggest causes of parents abusing their children in poverty. The stress could cause children to receive unfair judgment, leading parents to abuse their family members physically and emotionally. Child abuse is frequently seen in dysfunctional families where one or both parents engage in drug or alcohol addictions.
There are such classifications as sexual, physical, emotional, mental, cultural, and economic abuse. A child is emotionally abused when exposed to one, or sometimes both, acts of commission, such as verbal harassment or omission, such as parents not showing them care or attention. Emotional abuse is frequently linked to other types of neglect or abuse, such as insufficient emotional or nurturing care, exposure to frequent or severe marital violence, promotion of drug or alcohol abuse, and social exclusion from peers both inside and outside the household. Neglect, emotional abuse, and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems are strongly correlated during adolescence. Research on emotional child abuse and the persistent negative behaviors that result from such manipulation has been linked to the emergence of substance abuse issues in young people who have experienced psychological maltreatment (Strathearn et al., 2020). Emotional abuse and neglect during childhood were mainly linked to alcohol and tobacco use among 14-year-old adolescents.
Different behaviors such as fondling, exhibiting pornographic photos, and exposing oneself to a minor are all examples of other forms of sexual abuse. Traumatized children may exhibit behavioral reactions such as depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior, low self-esteem, anger, and fear of being by themselves. Another type, physical abuse, refers to behaviors that result in the child suffering physical harm. The external wounds are either deliberately or accidentally caused; however, they are intended to discipline the child or tame particular behavior physically. Strathearn et al. (2020) suggest that neglect and abuse significantly impact the immune system, increasing the likelihood of dangerous behaviors such as drug usage or unprotected sex during later life. In adults, chronic pain issues are also present — physical abuse results in aggressive or illegal responses. A child who has been mistreated is more likely to develop a strong dissociation from their family and engage in physical abuse later in life.
Developmental psychopathology offers a theoretical foundation for comprehending child maltreatment’s underlying causes and long-term effects, making identifying crucial developmental phases for intervention easier. Simple fixes are probably insufficient, considering the numerous factors contributing to the frequency of abuse. The probability of successful outcomes from interventions will rise if co-occurring issues, including poverty, domestic and interpersonal violence, and parental trauma experiences, are addressed. Early intervention is crucial to improve the chances of positive developmental trajectories since abuse impacts performance’s emotional, social, and physical aspects.
On a state level, the child protection system is typically composed of separate divisions that handle hotline allegations. They investigate alleged abuse, provide services to families with a substantiated finding of abuse without removing the children and place children in foster care after parental rights have been terminated. At the same time, courts focusing on child protection are known in different states as a juvenile, family, and dependency courts. The child’s best interests are considered, but the court does not take precedence over parental rights in various situations. Mental health specialists can be brought as witnesses to testify about what is best for children, giving them a chance to address their immediate and long-term needs.
To prevent and treat child maltreatment’s effects in the early years, interventions with a primary and consistent relational orientation have been created. According to Toth and Manly (2018), these include the modified Steps Toward Effective Enjoyable Parenting program, Attachment, Biobehavioral Catch-Up, Promoting First Relationships, and Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). CPP offers a supportive environment to promote parental awareness, sensitivity, and responsiveness to children’s needs in the first five years of life. CPP is considered suitable for resolving trauma in caregivers and children since many family members who abuse their children also deal with personal trauma. Building a cooperative therapeutic approach sensitive to the stressors and obstacles that families may experience requires understanding the socioeconomic environment and the family’s beliefs and values.
Conclusion
Child abuse, especially psychological abuse, is linked to various detrimental long-term health and developmental effects that persist throughout adolescence and young adulthood. Physical abuse also diminishes social and economic status, increasing the probability of neglect or maltreatment resulting from distress. There is a high chance that abusive parents experienced neglect or abuse as children. People who experience abuse or neglect as children are more prone to victimize others later or put their children in similar situations. There are various intervention strategies on various social levels. Nevertheless, child-parent psychotherapy can be considered one of the main approaches to address issues early on and provide solutions for both children’s and adults’ trauma. However, there is still much to be accomplished since many children continue to be abused, leading to unfavorable developmental trajectories and health effects that can last into adulthood.
Reference List
Strathearn, L., Giannotti, M., Mills, R., Kisely, S., Najman, J. & Abajobir, A. (2020). Long-term cognitive, psychological, and health outcomes associated with child abuse and neglect. Pediatrics, 146(4): e20200438. Web.
Toth, S. L., & Manly, J. T. (2018). Developmental consequences of child abuse and neglect: Implications for intervention. Child Development Perspectives. Web.
Zeanah, C. H., & Humphreys, K. L. (2018). Child abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(9), 637–644. Web.