DON’T MISS
IamExpat FairIamExpat Job BoardIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Expat Info
Dutch news & articles
Emotional abuse negatively affects our brains
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

Emotional abuse negatively affects our brains

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:



Related Stories

Dutch research shows exercise makes for a flexible mindDutch research shows exercise makes for a flexible mind
People usually tell the truth about being dishonestPeople usually tell the truth about being dishonest
Want to resist temptation? Phone a friendWant to resist temptation? Phone a friend
Why our best ideas happen in the showerWhy our best ideas happen in the shower
Best apps for public transportation in the NetherlandsBest apps for public transportation in the Netherlands
Useful weather apps for life in the NetherlandsUseful weather apps for life in the Netherlands
Alcohol-free beer becoming more popular in the NetherlandsAlcohol-free beer becoming more popular in the Netherlands
Netherlands ranked 4th in Good Country IndexNetherlands ranked 4th in Good Country Index
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usSitemap
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat FairsWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
Dec 14, 2013
Alexandra Gowling
Alexandra is an Australian citizen and an experienced expat, having spent (quite a bit of) time in Asia before coming to the Netherlands a year ago. She enjoys writing, reading and talking to people, occasionally in Dutch.Read more

Researchers at Leiden University have discovered that emotional child abuse has damaging effects of cognition and the structure and functioning of the brain.

PhD student Anne-Laura van Harmelen is arguing in her PhD defence that children who are often jeered at, threatened, ignored or isolated by their parents react differently to stress later in life.

Their memories of youth are affected and they often have a more negative image of themselves, which can arouse or strengthen negative thoughts and feelings in new situations.

"This makes them more susceptible to developing depressions or anxieties," Van Harmelen said.

Verbal child abuse

Emotional child abuse is the most common form of child abuse, according to Van Harmelen. Over the last few years it has become increasingly clear that this abuse has serious implications in the recipients’ adulthood.

"The precise effects of emotional child abuse on cognition and the brain have long been unknown. For a long time the assumption was that they were negligible," she said.

Effects on the brain

Her research shows a different story, however.

Medical imaging studies showed that the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that is important for the functioning of cognition and behaviour, is smaller in people who have been emotionally abused.

This cortex also responds differently when people remember things and reacts differently to stress.

To test this, Van Harmelen measured brain activity in test subjects while they were shown photos of positive, negative and neutral facial expressions.

Van Harmelen was able to establish that the amygdala (the area of the brain that signals the feeling of threat) of people who had been emotionally abused was more active. These results suggest that emotionally abused people found all the faces threatening, regardless of their expression.

Mitigating the harm

These results are an important step towards gaining a better understanding of the negative effects of emotional abuse in childhood.

"It is extremely important that we increase our knowledge and raise more awareness of the negative effects of emotional childhood abuse," said Van Harmelen. "My research has underlined the importance of being able to identify emotional childhood abuse. This will hopefully lead to more intervention so as to reduce the number of cases of abuse and its effects."

Van Harmelen is continuing her research at the University of Cambridge in the UK, examining whether positive factors, such as close friendships, can reduce the negative effects of emotional child abuse.

Source: Leiden University

By Alexandra Gowling