Covert forms of child abuse: A preliminary study

Abstract

Child abuse has generally been recognized only in its more obvious physical manifestations. The possibility of less obvious though serious forms of abuse is considered by offering a more expansive definition of child abuse, which includes a category that the investigators term “covert abuse.” The question is raised as to whether or not these more subtle forms of abuse result in a negative developmental outcome in the child. To answer this question, the investigators hypothesized that in the histories of young adult drug abusers, a high incidence of covert abuse would be found. To test this hypothesis, a self-report questionnaire was designed and administered to the 57 male and female residents (mean age of 20.2 years) in two facilities of a nationally based drug treatment program in the United States. As expected, it was found that the population reported a consistently high incidence of family disruption during childhood. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between hard-core drug abuse in the subjects and a lack of parental demonstrativeness toward each other. Results of the study suggest that overt forms of abuse are not the only types of abuse that may be developmentally destructive to a child; covert forms of abuse are possible contributors to a negative developmental outcome as well.