Emotional abuse includes acts or omissions by the parents or other caregivers that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. In some cases of emotional abuse, the acts of parents or other caregivers alone, without any harm evident in the child's behavior or condition, are sufficient to warrant CPS intervention. For example, the caregivers may use extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as a confinement of a child in a dark closet. Less severe acts, such as habitual scapegoating, belittling, or rejecting treatment, are often difficult to prove and, therefore, CPS may not be able to intervene without evidence of harm to the child. Although any of the forms of child maltreatment may be found separately, they often occur in combination.
Emotional abuse is almost always present when other forms are identified.
The physical and emotional scars of child abuse can last a lifetime. The effect abuse has on a child varies with the age of the child, the duration and intensity of the abuse, and the quality of the subsequent home environment. These are behaviors commonly found among children who are abused, that does not mean that every child with one of these outcomes is being or was abused. Long-term studies of low achievers, runaways, substance abusers, prostitutes and incarcerated individuals show that abuse and neglect are consistent and pervasive elements in their background. The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect recommends homevisiting by a trained professional as a child abuse and neglect prevention strategy.