What is the difference between physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect in terms of the actual abuse and the child outcomes related to child maltreatment overall?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Physical abuse refers to any intentional physical injury to the child and can include striking, kicking, burning, or biting the child as well as any action that results in physical impairment of the child. Sexual abuse is more common among older children and refers to inappropriate touching, comments, intercourse, and other forms of sexual activity. Neglect is defined in terms of deprivation of adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Physical abuse can impair brain development and functioning through physical damage and can alter the course of brain development, increasing the child's risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and learning and memory difficulties. The emotional effects of child maltreatment are serious and long lasting. Infants and toddlers who are abused fail to develop secure attachments to their caregivers, have poor coping skills, low self-esteem, and difficulty regulating their emotions and impulses. They show more negative affect, such as anger and frustration, and less positive affect than other children. They are at risk for a range of psychological disorders, including anxiety, eating, dissociative, and depressive disorder. Child maltreatment also has negative implications for cognitive development. Children who have experienced abuse have difficulty making and maintaining friendships and are at greater risk of being bullies or victims of bullies, as they find it difficult to integrate peer groups and often remain isolated.