Child abuse: a study of the child's perspective

This study ascertained the child's response to various types of abuse and neglect. With interviews and questionnaires for the staff of a child psychiatric unit, the mothers and the children involved, we assessed the severity, frequency and duration of physical abuse, verbal abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect or sexual abuse of children. The physically abused children accepted blame for mild but not severe mistreatment. Verbally and sexually abused children did not believe it was their fault if the mistreatment was moderately extensive but did if it was mild or severe. The relationship between extent of abuse and blame was less clear for neglect, but children usually though it was their fault. Verbal and sexual abuse appeared to have a greater impact on the children's perception of themselves and the world. Verbally abused children were more angry and more pessimistic about their future. Although physical abuse appeared to make some children feel they were unwanted at birth, how much the mother wanted her children was not related to the extent of any type of abuse. Both the type and extent of mistreatment appear to have different effects on the child's subjective experience. The use of the visual analogue scale in this study made it possible to differentiate a continuum of severity and frequency of five types of mistreatment without the need for definition.