The Developmental Consequences of Child Emotional Abuse

Abstract This article provides an empirical and theoretical foundation to support increased attention to neurodevelopmental processes in understanding the developmental sequelae of child emotional abuse (CEA). After reviewing the socioemotional consequences of CEA, an overview of the mammalian stress response system is provided, the deleterious impact of early psychosocial adversity on the organization and integration of this system is discussed, and the applicability of these findings for considering CEA and its developmental consequences within a multi-level, integrative, developmental psychopathology framework is explained. Building on evidence that CEA is likely to result in significant and enduring alterations in the neurobiology of stress response systems and, by extension, in neurodevelopment more broadly, specific suggestions for future research and practice are offered. This article encourages greater attention to CEA as a salient developmental experience and to neurophysiological processes as a heretofore overlooked source of information about the relation between CEA and adaptation.