McNair Scholar 2021 - Muna Bishar

Perceptions of Childhood Emotional Abuse Among Psychologists, Students, and the General Public

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to bring attention to the under-recognized impact of childhood abuse. The identified groups for the study were psychologists, college students, and the general public. The study used a cross-sectional survey design that included eight case stories of adverse childhood experiences. Participants assessed eight case stories, in which five did not meet the definition of childhood abuse. Informed consent, case stories, and surveys were completed via Qualtrics. The study assessed the similarities and differences of rated severity of abuse among the three groups by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVAs). Findings suggested that the general public’s mean ratings of abuse were higher than psychologists and students. Participants also self-reported their childhood trauma experiences, in which experiences of emotional abuse were equal among all groups, although the general public experienced significantly more of all other forms of abuse. Future studies should examine if compounding forms of abuse might have related to how individuals perceive abuse, especially among psychologists in training whose clients might benefit from their understanding of abuse severity. This study hopes to address the misconceptions around emotional abuse and to bring unseen or unacknowledged forms of abuse to light.