Exploring the Impact of Verbal Abuse on Recovery: A Mediation Study

People with serious mental illnesses are exposed to high rates of verbal abuse. This study examines the impact of such experiences on loneliness and social support, which is hypothesized to ultimately diminish recovery.

Fifty participants with serious mental illnesses reported on their experiences with verbal abuse, loneliness, social support, and recovery.

Verbal abuse was found to be related to loneliness and social support, and both mediated the relationship between verbal abuse and recovery.

Verbal abuse is an all too common experience of people with serious mental illnesses that ultimately affects their recovery. Specifically, exposure to verbal abuse may impact recovery by increasing sense of loneliness and perceived social support. The implications are that a heightened awareness of verbal abuse and its impact on recovery should draw attention to interventions that decrease exposure and increase self-advocacy to combat negative outcomes.