Nearly all adults in London believe emotional abuse in childhood can have a lasting psychological effect but almost one in five cannot spot the signs.
New findings reveal that 92% of adults surveyed in in London believe that emotional abuse in childhood can have a lasting psychological effect well into adulthood.
A YouGov survey of 4,242 UK adults, commissioned by the NSPCC – including 514 in London – also gave participants a series of behaviours and asked them to correctly identify what was deemed as emotional abuse.
In London, on average almost one in five participants (19%), failed to correctly identify examples of emotional abuse. The scenarios where adults failed to identify emotional abuse correctly included:
Being overly controlling of a child’s life (27%)
Never showing any emotions in interactions with a child (28%)
Pushing a child too hard or not recognising their limitations (27%).
The research also found that almost two thirds (63%) of adults in the region surveyed had not done any training or reading to help them recognise the signs of emotional abuse.
Emotional abuse – which is any type of abuse that involves the continual emotional mistreatment of a child – can often be difficult to recognise, sometimes showing limited external signs.
Research suggests that 1 in 15 children in the UK will experience emotional abuse, highlighting just how prevalent the issue is, and it is a topic that young people contact Childline about on a regular basis.
Last year the NSPCC service delivered almost 3,000 counselling sessions to children and young people where emotional abuse was the main concern, a 5% increase compared to 2022/23.
One girl, aged 17, told Childline: “Mum’s never hit me, but it still feels abusive. She always tells me she hates me, that I’m selfish, that I’m stupid. When she’s angry she breaks my stuff and blames it on me. She controls my friendships too; she says no one would want to be my friend anyway. I feel so defeated and drained living with this every day.”
This new data highlights the importance of free resources, like the NSPCC’s Listen up, Speak up workshops and online tips and advice. Little Village, a baby bank helping babies and children under five living in poverty across London, recently welcomed safeguarding experts to lead these free, educational workshops.
Listen up, Speak up provides simple tips and advice on signs a child might be at risk and steps that can be taken to help. The tips can be found online, and anyone can take part in a workshop run for free by local NSPCC teams, either in person or online.
Through a series of everyday scenarios, participants learn some of the signs that a child might be at risk, showing that not all situations are black and white, how to approach difficult conversations, and who to contact if they are concerned about a child or their family.
A Little Village participant said they’d learned “to be brave and talk to someone if I’m concerned” from the sessions.
NSPCC’s CEO, Chris Sherwood, said: “It is concerning that on average almost one in five adults in London aren’t able to correctly identify emotional abuse. We know that emotional abuse can have a devastating and long-lasting impact on children’s wellbeing and development, affecting their mental health, and relationships well into adulthood.
“The NSPCC is here to support any child who has experienced any kind of abuse. We are also fully committed to creating a nation of adults who are passionate about preventing harm from happening to a child. With our Childline service delivering almost 3,000 counselling sessions about emotional abuse last year alone, we understand the scale and seriousness of this issue across the UK.
“That’s why Listen up, Speak up is so vital. In just 10 minutes, we can help adults learn to recognise both the obvious and subtle signs a child might be at risk and take action to support them. Every adult has the power to make a difference.”
