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How Emotional Abuse in Childhood Changes the Brain

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By Leonard Holmes, PhD 

Updated on November 15, 2021

 Medically reviewed by 

Ann-Louise T. Lockhart, PsyD, ABPPPrint 

Depressed girl sitting at the street
Martin Dimitrov / Getty Images

Childhood emotional abuse and neglect can result in permanent changes to the developing human brain. These changes in brain structure appear to be significant enough to potentially cause psychological and emotional problems in adulthood, such as psychological disorders and substance misuse.

Around 14% of Americans report experiencing emotional abuse or neglect during their childhood.1 Emotional abuse can include:

  • Insulting, name-calling, or swearing at a child
  • Threatening to physically harm the child
  • Terrorizing or otherwise making the child feel afraid

Emotional neglect involves failing to meet a child’s emotional needs. This can include failing to:

  • Believe in the child
  • Create a close-knit family
  • Make the child feel special or important
  • Provide support
  • Want the child to be successful

If you are a victim of child abuse or know someone who might be, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 to speak with a professional crisis counselor.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.


Australian victims, here’s Contact info from the concluded Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/contact

Contact & support

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has now concluded.

Any enquiries relating to the Royal Commission, including access to records, should be directed to the Attorney-General’s Departmentexternal resource. 

To make a complaint about the Royal Commission contact the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinetexternal resource. 

National Redress Scheme

The National Redress Scheme started on 1 July 2018 and will run for 10 years. You can find information about the Scheme at Nationalredress.gov.auexternal resource or you can call the National Redress Scheme on 1800 737 377 Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm local time.

Finding help and support

The work of this Commission, and particularly the stories of survivors, may bring up many strong feelings and questions. Be assured you are not alone, and that there are many services and support groups available to assist in dealing with these. Some options for advice and support are listed below:

1800 Respect – Call 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.auexternal resource

24/7 telephone and online crisis support, information and immediate referral to specialist counselling for anyone in Australia who has experienced or been impacted by sexual assault, or domestic or family violence.

Lifeline – Call 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.auexternal resource

24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention 

STATES in Australia offer their own range of Counselling & Support (Psychological).

How Abuse Alters Brain Structure 

As children grow, their brains undergo periods of rapid development. Negative experiences can disrupt those developmental periods, leading to changes in the brain later on.

Research supports this idea and suggests that the timing and duration of childhood abuse can impact the way it affects those children later in life. Abuse that occurs early in childhood for a prolonged period of time, for example, can lead to particularly negative outcomes.2

Dr. Martin Teicher and his colleagues at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Northeastern University studied this relationship between abuse and brain structure by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to identify measured changes in brain structure among young adults who had experienced childhood abuse or neglect.3

They found clear differences in nine brain regions between those who had experienced childhood trauma and those who had not. The most obvious changes were in the brain regions that help balance emotions and impulses, as well as self-aware thinking. The study’s results indicate that people who have been through childhood abuse or neglect do have an increased risk of developing mental health issues later on.

Childhood maltreatment has also been shown to increase the risk of anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, major depression, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychosis.3 The experience may also translate into a higher risk of substance misuse as a result of changes in their brain associated with impulse control and decision-making.

 Healing From Childhood Abuse With Former NFL Player Reggie Walker

Effects on Brain Structure 

Childhood abuse and neglect can have several negative effects on how the brain develops. Some of these are:4

  • Decreased size of the corpus callosum, which integrates cortical functioning—motor, sensory, and cognitive performances—between the hemispheres
  • Decreased size of the hippocampus, which is important in learning and memory
  • Dysfunction at different levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is involved in the stress response
  • Less volume in the prefrontal cortex, which affects behavior, emotional balance, and perception
  • Overactivity in the amygdala, which is responsible for processing emotions and determining reactions to potentially stressful or dangerous situations
  • Reduced volume of the cerebellum, which can affect motor skills and coordination

Press Play for Advice On Healing Childhood Wounds

This episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring award-winning actress Chrissy Metz, shares how to heal childhood trauma, safeguard your mental health, and how to get comfortable when faced with difficult emotions. Click below to listen now.

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music

Effects on Behavior, Emotions, and Social Function 

Because childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma change brain structure and chemical function, maltreatment can also affect the way children behave, regulate emotions, and function socially. These potential effects include:

  • Being constantly on alert and unable to relax, no matter the situation
  • Feeling fearful most or all of the time
  • Finding social situations more challenging
  • Learning deficits
  • Not hitting developmental milestones in a timely fashion
  • A tendency to develop a mental health condition
  • A weakened ability to process positive feedback

These effects can continue to cause issues in adulthood if they’re not addressed. Adults who experienced maltreatment during childhood may have trouble with interpersonal relationships—or they may avoid them altogether.1

This outcome could be related to attachment theory, or the idea that our early relationships with caregivers influence the way we relate to people later on in life. Emotional abuse and neglect don’t allow for a secure attachment to form between a child and caregiver, which causes distress for the child and influences the way they see themselves and others.

Adults who went through childhood emotional abuse or neglect may also experience:1

How childhood abuse or neglect affects children later in life depends on a variety of factors:

  • How often the abuse occurred
  • The age the child was during the abuse
  • Who the abuser was
  • Whether or not the child had a dependable, loving adult in their life
  • How long the abuse lasted
  • If there were any interventions in the abuse
  • The kind and severity of the abuse
  • Other individual factors

Treatment 

Through treatment, it is possible to address the effects of childhood emotional abuse and neglect. Treatment in these cases is highly individual since maltreatment can take many forms and each person’s response to it may differ.

Any form of treatment would likely include therapy and, depending on whether or not any other mental health conditions are present, may include medication as well. Some effective forms of therapy are:5

  • Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy involves interacting with something that typically provokes fear while slowly learning to remain calm. This form of therapy may improve neural connections between several regions in the brain.
  • Family therapy: Family therapy is a psychological treatment intended to improve relationships within the entire family and create a better, more supportive home environment. This type of treatment may improve HPA axis functioning and lead to a healthier stress response. 
  • Mindfulness-based approaches: Mindfulness-based therapy focuses on helping people develop a sense of awareness of their thoughts and feelings so they can understand them and better regulate them. These approaches may help improve resiliency against stress by benefiting several brain regions and improving neural connections.
  • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT): TF-CBT focuses on helping people learn new coping skills, restructure negative or unhelpful thoughts, regulate their moods, and overcome trauma by crafting a trauma narrative. This form of therapy may help reduce overactivity in the amygdala.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • What is the definition of childhood maltreatment?
  • What are the signs of child abuse?

 The Effects of Childhood Trauma

7 Sources

By Leonard Holmes, PhD 
Leonard Holmes, PhD, is a pioneer of the online therapy field and a clinical psychologist specializing in chronic pain and anxiety.