top of page
Search

Psychological Maltreatment: A Widespread and Often Overlooked Form of Child Maltreatment

  • PM Alliance
  • Oct 23, 2019
  • 1 min read

Updated: Jan 9, 2020

We know now that psychological maltreatment is widespread. Estimates vary depending on whether data are collected from self-report (the participants reporting on their own experiences) or from informants or official records (such as child protection cases). However, it is safe to conclude that between 10% and 30% of the general population has experienced moderate levels of psychological maltreatment during their lifetime. We also know that exposure to PM is associated with a host of negative outcomes for individuals and that when combined with other forms of childhood maltreatment PM will exacerbate their effects as well. Protecting children from this insidious form of childhood maltreatment should be a high priority for anyone working with children and families. We are concerned that that too many mental health professionals and others working with high risk families are not actually trained to identify PM, to know how to differentiate it from poor parenting, and to determine when a case should be called in to child protection. We consider this a very serious omission and plan to develop a series of recommendations based on a current survey of APSAC members (see research page for more information about our study). -- Amy J.L. Baker


 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All
What Does Acceptance Mean to You?

What does acceptance mean to you? For Emi Nietfeld it meant being "accepted" into Harvard -- a triumph of epic proportions given the...

 
 
 

Comments


Capture2.PNG
APSAC-2018-LOGO-TM-TAG.png
Capture1.PNG
Capture3.PNG
0.png
Logo version 2_edited.jpg

©2019 by Psychological Maltreatment Alliance

bottom of page