This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Education Safeguarding Professional, Zarine Power for the attention of all schools.
Physical and verbal abuse
The Guardian has published a news story discussing findings from a research study analysing the impact of childhood exposure to verbal and physical abuse published in BMJ Open. The study draws combined data from seven general adult population surveys in England and Wales between 2012-2024. Key findings include: parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult; and the prevalence of low mental wellbeing for those who had experienced no abuse stood at 16%, rising to 22.5% for those who had experienced physical abuse, 24% for verbal abuse, and 29% for both physical and verbal abuse.
Read the news story: Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds
Read the study: Comparative relationships between physical and verbal abuse of children, life course mental well-being and trends in exposure: a multi-study secondary analysis of cross-sectional surveys in England and Wales