Adults shouting at children can be as harmful as sexual or physical abuse, study finds

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Parents, teachers, coaches and other adults shouting at denigrating or verbally threatening children can be as damaging to their development as sexual or physical abuse, a new study finds.

The study, published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, reviewed 166 earlier studies to produce a detailed analysis of the existing literature on the topic.

The authors called for childhood verbal abuse to be ascribed its own category of maltreatment to facilitate prevention.

Child maltreatment is currently classified into four categories - physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, of which verbal abuse is a part, and neglect - and this study can inform strategies for prevention and treatment.

Unlike other forms of emotional abuse, including indifference, silent treatment and witnessing domestic violence, researchers categorized verbal abuse as more "overt" and said it "warrants special attention."

Commissioned by Words Matter - a British charity that aims to improve children's health by ending verbal abuse - the study was carried out by researchers at Wingate University in North Carolina and University College London.