Adult Psychological Distress and Self-Worth Following Child Verbal Abuse |
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Authors: | Erica E. Coates Tara Dinger Matthew Donovan Vicky Phares |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology , University of South Florida , Tampa , Florida , USA ecoates@mail.usf.edu;3. Department of Psychology , University of South Florida , Tampa , Florida , USA |
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Abstract: | Despite the proliferation of child maltreatment research over the last 30 years, there remains a dearth of research examining the long-term effects of child psychological maltreatment (CPM), particularly child verbal abuse (CVA). Using a college sample of 173 participants from a Southeastern university, this study examined the role of gender and perpetrator relationship in predicting psychological distress and self-worth of adults exposed to CVA. Maternal CVA emerged as a significant predictor of lower levels of self-worth in adult daughters and sons as well as greater psychological distress in adult daughters. Paternal CVA did not emerge as a significant predictor of greater psychological distress or lower levels of self-worth in either adult daughters or sons. |
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Keywords: | child verbal abuse psychological distress self-worth |
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