CHILD EMOTIONAL ABUSE AND ITS

EFFECT ON CHILD’S ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE

Prepared by:
ALYANNA ALEXA N. ARANAS
BSSW-III
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Emotional abuse, also known as psychological or mental abuse, refers to

behaviours or actions that harm a child's emotional well-being or development. It
involves a pattern of intentional or unintentional behaviours that undermine a child's
inappropriate behaviour and even on academic performance. (Morin, 2022)

Emotional abuse may be the most prevalent type of child abuse: however, it is
also the most hidden, underreported, and least studied type of abuse. A growing body
of research highlights the harmful effects of emotional maltreatment in children. Also,
it is significantly related to subsequent delinquent behaviour and academic difficulties
in early adolescence. Many psychologists assert that emotional abuse is the most
devastating form of child abuse, because of its traumatic effects in the development of
school pupils. (Ba-Saddik, 2012)

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1 in 3 children have

experienced emotional abuse, making it one of the most common forms of child abuse.
Emotional abuse can occur in many different contexts, including within families,
schools, and other institutional settings.

Emotional child abuse, also known as psychological abuse, is a form of

mistreatment that involves the deliberate infliction of emotional or mental harm upon
a child. It can be perpetrated by parents, caregivers, or any adult who has a
relationship of power and control over the child. Emotional abuse is often
characterized by a pattern of behaviour that includes verbal abuse, constant criticism,
belittling, humiliation, intimidation, and threats. (Bifulco, 2002)

The purpose of this research is to give awareness and background information

to the individuals who can benefit from this study about the importance of emotional
education as well the effects and actions of emotional abuse.

Safe and secured environment should be provided for the children. Children
should be watched and warned against unhealthy relationship and environment.
Parents should be aware of changes in their children’s behaviours such as bed
wetting, sulking, anxiety, afraid of the dark or been left alone, begging for food, theft,
changes in academic performance. They should find time to discuss with their
children and meet their needs. Parents should have listening ears. Also, teachers and
school authorities should take note of behavioural changes in their students. Any drop
in academic performance should be reported to parents. (Information Parlour, 2015)

Conceptual Framework

This study which is “Child Emotional Abuse and its Effect on Child’s Academic
Performance” utilizes two variables which lead to determine the relationship between
child emotional abuse and its effect on child’s academic performance.

Child Emotional Abuse and its effect on Child’s Academic Performance

Independent Variable

Child Emotional Abuse

 Social Functioning and;

 Self Esteem

Dependent Variable

Effect on Child’s Academic Performance

 Mastery of subject-specific
knowledge and skills
 Motivation and engagement and;
 Development of study and
learning skills

Figure 1.1

Schematic Study of Diagram

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine about child emotional abuse and its effect
on child’s academic performance, specifically to answer the following questions:

1. What are the effects of child emotional abuse in terms of :

1.1 Social functioning and;
1.2 Self Esteem

2. What are the effects of child’s academic performance of child emotionally abuse
in terms of :
2.1 Mastery of subject-specific knowledge and skills
2.2 Motivation and engagement and;
2.3 Development of study and learning skills

3. Is there a significant relationship between child emotional abuse and its effect
on child academic performance?

Hypothesis

This study shows the hypothesis of child emotional abuse and its effect on
child’s academic performance.

Null Hypothesis (HO): There is no significant relationship between child emotional

abuse and its effect on child’s academic performance.

Significance of the Study

Parents, this research is very helpful to know and to have knowledge, in noticing the
children if their action looks normal or something changed just like the effects of being
abuse. As child was very precious gift to the parents and society, they should be
vigilant and be careful enough to the actions and the words that they’re going to
uttered as it will be the number one factor that could trigger the emotion of a child.
Barangay officials, this study is significant as they are the one who guides their
member in a particular barangay and it is one of their responsibility to monitor each
individual that belong to the barangay. For them to be aware on what are the effects of
emotional child abuse and they can impart their knowledge to prevent the increasing
rate.

Teachers, this research can help the teachers to have knowledge of the effect of
emotional abuse so that they can create and strengthen a protective environment
around their students. Their observation is very important and they must learn how to
recognize a student emotionally abuse.

Future researcher, the result of this will be valuable in their research since this can
be a reference for more knowledge and ideas.

Scope and Limitation

The study primarily focuses on child emotional abuse and its effect on child’s
academic performance. The respondents of this study are 20 children aged 3-12 years
old and living in Barangay San Pedro Pagadian City, Zamboanga Del Sur. The time
frame of this research is from March to June 2023.

Definition of terms

To give a vivid meaning on the words which used operationally in the following are
hereby defined.

Social Functioning: This refers to individual’s interaction with their environment and
the ability to fulfil their role within such environment as work, social activities and
relationships with family one of the sub-variables of this study.

Emotional child abuse: This refers to the independent variable of this research in
which child emotional abuse refers to a pattern of behaviours or actions by a parent,
caregiver, or other adult that harm a child's emotional or mental development.
Child academic performance: This is the dependent variable of this research that
needs to be study on or test hence, refers to a child's level of achievement in
educational settings, such as school or home schooling. It is typically assessed
through a range of measures, including grades, standardized test scores, and teacher
evaluations.

Self-esteem: Refers to one of the sub-variables. Self-esteem refers to an individual's

overall sense of worth and value as a person. It is the extent to which a person
believes they are competent, capable, and deserving of respect and love.

Mastery of subject-specific knowledge and skills: This sub-variable is related to the

cognitive domain, and involves the acquisition, retention, and application of subject-
specific knowledge and skills. Mastery of these concepts is often reflected in a
student’s grade point average (GPA) and performance on tests and exams.

Motivation and engagement: This sub-variable is related to the effective domain, and
involves a student’s level of motivation, interest, and emotional investment in their
academic work. Students who are motivated and engaged in their learning are more
likely to attend classes regularly and perform well on assignments and exams.

Development of study and learning skills: This sub-variable is related to the

psychomotor domain, and involves the development of study and learning skills, such
as time management, note-taking, and test-taking strategies. The development of
these skills can help students to better organize and process information, leading to
improved academic performance.
 Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

Foreign Studies

Child emotional abuse, unlike physical and sexual abuses, has an intangible
quality. Without corroborating physical findings, identification of affected children
relies largely on the skills of trained personnel, predominantly child advocates in the
mental health and protective service fields. Unfortunately, there are currently no
consensus definitions to guide in the identification of emotionally abused children. To
define the qualities of emotional abuse, expert psychological and psychiatric opinions
on emotional abuse have focused on parent actions including rejecting, isolating,
terrorizing, ignoring, corrupting, verbally assaulting, and over pressuring.
“Psychological or Emotional Abuse or Neglect” victims were defined as those that
“resulted in impaired psychological functioning and development. (Hamarman, 2015)

According to MassKids (2023), emotional abuse inhibits a child's happiness and

well-being. Children look to their parents for love and understanding; when they do
not receive this they become sad, withdrawn and may separate themselves from others
which leads to lack of social communication. As a child grows older, the effects of
emotional abuse become worse. They have difficulty paying attention in class, which
results in poor academic performance. They have a hard time making friends; their
anger increases and they fight a lot. The child's actions and attitude make it difficult
for others to give him warm and positive messages, so the problems continue and
worsen.

Typically, children experiencing emotional abuse lack healthy social skills and

can also have few to no friends. This stems from the children learning to isolate
themselves. Other signs include children being overly affectionate to strangers or
people that they haven't known very long.

This type of abuse can be extremely destructive and has been associated with a
range of adverse child outcomes including emotional maladjustment, depression, poor
self-esteem, conduct problems, aggression, inability to trust, and underachievement.
(Rizvi, 2014)
 Emotional abuse can undermine the development of students' cognitive
competences and skills, and it can also have a detrimental effect on their trust of
others and on the way they form relationships and express emotion (Tomison, 1997).

According to Hymen (199), the effects of emotional abuse can further be

appreciated as follows. Academic Emotional abuse can lead to lower motivation for
school attendance, incompletion of academic assignments, and negative student-
teacher interactions. Hymen contended that students may also experience difficulty
paying attention; staying on task; thinking clearly; focusing on schoolwork in general;
and performing at lower levels, academically, on measures of ability and achievement.
The factors cited can significantly affect academic progress and impede promotion to
subsequent grade levels, placing students who have been emotionally abused at risk of
failing in school and potentially dropping out of school early. Consequently, these
measures are strong indicators to counsellors that a student may be experiencing
emotional abuse.

Emotionally abused children not only remain excluded during opportunities for
free play with other children but also exhibit withdrawal. Some of these abused
children tend to interact rarely with their peers and lack a sense of humour and
positive affect. Their ability to perceive, feel, understand, and express emotions can be
significantly impaired. Emotional abuse can severely damage a student's sense of self-
worth and self-perception and impair psychological development, including
intelligence, recognition, perception, attention, imagination, and moral development
(Stevens, 1996).

Local Studies

According to UNICEF Philippines (2016), child psychological violence refers to

the acts causing or likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim. In this
study, the indicators of psychological violence were: verbal abuse (belittling,
humiliating, cursing, saying bad words, shouting, calling names, (embarrassing in
front of other people); threats of being harmed; and feelings of or actual abandonment.
Children are exposed to the threat of violence in all spheres of life; at home, in school
and the community, the workplace and in institutions. In all of these settings children
are exposed to various forms of violence, including psychological or emotional abuse.
The physical and emotional harm to children resulting from the experience of violence
is devastating. The affect and impact on children creates lasting emotional and
psychological scars.

Emotional abuse is the use of anger to permanently and systematically control,

humiliate, and break the spirit of another person—man, woman, or child.

Psychology Today says emotional abuse tends to be more damaging than

physical abuse because the former is cyclical while the latter usually happens daily.
“The other factor that makes emotional abuse so devastating is the greater likelihood
that victims will blame themselves. If someone hits you, it's easier to see that he or she
is the problem, but if the abuse is subtle - saying or implying that you're ugly, a bad
parent, stupid, incompetent, not worthy of attention, or that no one could love you -
you are more likely to think it's your problem. Emotional abuse seems more personal
than physical abuse, more about you as a person, more about your spirit.

Healthyplace.com says that short term effects of emotional abuse include

surprise and confusion, questioning one’s own memory, anxiety or fear, shame or
guilt, aggression (as defense), becoming overly passive or compliant, frequent crying,
feeling powerless, manipulated and undesirable while long-term effects include
depression, withdrawal, low self-esteem and self-worth, emotional instability, sleep
disturbances, physical pain without cause, suicidal thoughts or attempts, extreme
dependence on the abuser, underachievement, inability to trust, feeling trapped and
alone and even substance abuse.