Former school principal jailed for sexually abusing 14 children, Emotional Child Abuse

Former school principal jailed for sexually abusing 14 children
5 Oct 2015 

A former school principal in Tasmania has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing 14 children.
The man pleaded guilty earlier this year to 17 counts of indecently assaulting 11 primary school boys during the 1970s and 1980s.

He also pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with his step daughter, starting when she was aged 10, and with her brother who was 12.
He also indecently assaulted their younger sister....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-05/former-school-principal-who-sexually-abused-14-children-jailed/6829174


Emotional child abuse may be just as bad as physical harm
By Lisa Rapaport  Mon Oct 19, 2015 

(Reuters Health) - When it comes to psychological and behavioral health, both physical and emotional abuse can be equally damaging to children, a new study suggests.

Even though doctors and parents often believe physical or sexual abuse is more harmful than emotional mistreatment or neglect, the study found children suffered similar problems regardless of the type of maltreatment endured, researchers report in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

“The abused children had all types of problems, from anxiety and depression to rule-breaking and aggression,” lead study author David Vachon, of McGill University in Montreal, said by email.

His team was surprised, he said, that “different types of abuse had similar consequences; physically abused children and emotionally abused children had very similar problems.”....

Overall, children with a history of abuse and neglect had much higher rates of depression, withdrawal, anxiety, and neuroticism than campers who hadn’t been mistreated.

This difference held true for kids who were victims of all types of abuse, including neglect as well as physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment.

The effect was most profound for children who suffered from all four types of abuse, or from the most severe forms of maltreatment.

Results were similar for boys and girls and across racial groups....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/19/us-health-childabuse-emotional-idUSKCN0SD2C720151019 


Assessment of the Harmful Psychiatric and Behavioral Effects of Different Forms of Child Maltreatment  October 14, 2015  David D. Vachon, PhD; Robert F. Krueger, PhD; Fred A. Rogosch, PhD3; Dante Cicchetti, PhD  
JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 14, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1792

....Taken together with high worldwide prevalence and evidence that emotional and physical pain share a common somatosensory representation in the brain it is clear that emotional abuse is widespread, painful, and destructive.
http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2461738