Emotional abuse occurs when a child’s emotional, psychological or social well-being and sense of worth is continually battered. It can include a pattern of criticizing, rejecting, discriminating, degrading, ignoring, isolating, corrupting, ex­ploiting and terrorizing a child. It may result from exposure to fami­ly violence or involvement in illegal or anti-social activities. Emotion­al abuse is almost always present when other forms of abuse occur. The effects of this form of abuse are not always immediate or vis­ible. The long-lasting effects of emotional abuse may only become evident as a child becomes older and begins to show difficult or dis­turbing behaviours or symptoms (Nair, 2017).

A child may show certain signs of emotional abuse when a parent or caregiver show little or no regard for the child, talking badly about the child, not touching and holding the child affectionately, not tending to child’s medical needs, change in behaviour such as doing poor in school and emotionally immature when compared to peers. Victims of child abuse may also experience cognitive difficulties like low grades and poor classroom functioning. (Springer, Sheridan, Kuo & Carnes, 2007).

Indicators of emotional abuse

• Bed-wetting or bed soiling that has no medical cause
• Frequent psychosomatic com­plaints (eg. Headaches, nausea, ab­dominal pains)
• Has not attained significant de­velopmental milestones
• Suffers from severe developmen­tal gaps
• Severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, withdrawal or aggression
• Severe symptoms of self de­structive behaviour – self harming, suicide attempts, engaging in drug or alcohol abuse
• Displays attention seeking be­haviours or displays extreme inhi­bition in play
• When at play, behaviour may model or copy negative behaviour and language used at home (LeGrand & Martin, 2001)

Need and Significance of the Study

The aim of the study is to spread awareness on child abuse prevention among children and to sensitize, stakeholders in particular and civil society in general on the need and importance of child protection against abuse, exploitation, discrimination as also protection in times of calamities. Several key concepts need to be considered in attempting to understand prevention pathways that lead from abuse to the various consequences and the context in which those consequences manifest.

Positive and negative influences found among individual child characteristics, within the family environment, and in the child’s broader social context all interact to predict outcomes related to child abuse. Child abuse occurs in the society then the parent’s community awareness on their child to prevent from this issue. Abused children often are exposed to multiple stressors in addition to experiences of abuse, and prevention consequences may manifest at different points in a child’s development. Therefore, the most rigorous research on this topic attempts to account for the many factors that may be confounded with awareness on prevention of child abuse.

While child abuse exists almost all over the world, it is much greater in some countries. India is definitely one of them. Children are in vulnerable situations such as poverty, disability, homelessness etc. and they find themselves doubly disadvantaged, by their gender and the physical, geographic, economic, political, and social situations that they find themselves in. It is, therefore, imperative to take a child perspective into account while examining the situation of children. Abuse of children is widely prevalent in Tamil Nadu. To increase the application of prevention strategies against child abuse, more outcome studies are urgently needed. These studies should include attempts to find out the outcomes of the existing strategies. They should provide practical guidance on how to plan, select, design and implement prevention strategies in a way that they will generate evidence as to how effective they are. Realizing these factual learning, the researchers have focused on child issues and carried out this research on the title “Effect of Psycho-education on Creating Awareness of Emotional Abuse”.

Review of Related Studies

Prikhidko and Kenny (2021) analyzed the examination of parents’ attitudes toward and efforts to discuss child sexual abuse prevention with their children. This study aims to analyzing parents’ attitudes toward CSA, and their engagement in discussions about CSA with children. The majorities of parents are discussing CSA and have adequate knowledge about prevention concepts, but still desire more assistance from experts. Some parents are in need of more assistance in conducting CSA discussions with their children.

Yadav et al., (2021) studied the knowledge regarding prevention of child abuse among parents at selected rural area of Western Rajasthan.      The main aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge regarding prevention of child abuse among parents. Descriptive Survey design was used. The finding of the study concluded that the knowledge regarding child abuse among parents was inadequate. Considering this aspects further awareness drives can be conducted to make the people alert about child abuse and its prevention.

Kareglazova (2020) studied the practical aspects of working with parents for the prevention of psychological child abuse. This study presents the results of a pilot study on the implementation of a prevention program in the form of a psychological training seminar which focuses on parenting skills development. The observed changes were easier and more pleasant communication, a longer time of interaction, decrease in the number of conflicts, willingness to spend time together, a better understanding of the child, and a clearer expression of ideas and requests by the parent.

AlRammah et al., (2019) studied the parent child communication and preventive practices for child sexual abuse among the general population: A community-based study. This study was conducted to investigate parent child communication and preventive practices centred on child sexual abuse among a cohort of Saudi population. The study showed that parent child communication practices in KSA seem to be reasonably good. Further parental supervision of children with respect to sexual abuse needs attention. Parents are advised to communicate with their children and to provide them with information and material on the prevention of sexual abuse.

Batham, Koreti and Gaur (2019) conducted a study on “Are parents and children aware of child sexual prevention education?”. Current study aimed to find out awareness, orientation, execution of parents for child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention education and study the awareness of CSA prevention education among children attending pre-primary and primary school. Majority of parents and kid are unaware of various fact of child sexual abuse. Parents education level has direct correlation, highly qualified mother father has positive attitude toward child sexual abuse prevention education. Lack of knowledge found in lower socioeconomic class.

Navaei, Akbari-Kamrani, Esmaelzadeh-Saeieh, Farid and Tehranizadeh (2018) examined the effect of group counseling on parents’ self-efficacy, knowledge, attitude, and communication practice in preventing sexual abuse of children aged 2-6 years: A randomized controlled clinical trial. The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of group counseling on parents’ self-efficacy, knowledge, attitude, and communication practice in preventing sexual abuse of children aged 2-6 years. This study revealed that counseling is an effective tool in increasing the self-efficacy of parents on child sexual abuse. The awareness of child sexual abuse and its prevention should be raised in the society through effective training programs.

Khanjari, Modabber, Rahmati, and Haghani (2017) examined the knowledge, attitudes and practices among parents of school-age children after child sexual abuse prevention education. This study was conducted to explain the effect of child sexual abuse prevention education program on knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents with children aged 6 to 12 years. The findings of this study revealed that designing and implementing training programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse can lead to increased knowledge and practice of the parents but making change of attitude requires more studies.

Objectives of the Study

1. To develop a module for Psycho-Education for the parents of early adolescents on awareness of child abuse
2. To identify the awareness of child abuse among parents
3. To identify the awareness of child abuse among early adolescents
4. To find out the significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
5. To find out the significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Hypotheses Formulated

1. There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
2. There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
3. There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
4. There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Design of the Study

Method

Research design refers to the scheduling of the times at which treatment is administered to subjects and at which observations are made of the performance of the subjects. It is rather an important component of the research process of establishing cause and effect relationships. By combining careful research design with appropriate measurement, analysis and reasoning, the validity of the conclusions drawn from the research efforts can be strengthened (Vockell, 1983). The present study the researchers employed Single-Group Pretest-Posttest Design. In such a design, a single test group area is selected and the dependent variable i.e. awareness of child abuse is measured before and after the administration of the treatment i.e. Psycho-education for the parents. The duration for the treatment is ten days.

Population and Sample

A population is any group of individuals that has one or more characteristics in common and that are of interest to the researchers (Best & Kahn, 2012). The population must be clearly defined before the sample is taken. For the present study the parents of early adolescents in Tamil Nadu as population.

A sample is a small proportion of the population that is selected for observation and analysis. By observing the characteristics of the sample, one can make certain inferences about the characteristics of the population from which it was drawn (Best & Kahn, 2012).

The sample for the present study was comprised of the parents of seventh standard students studying at C.S.I. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kulasekharam, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu. After getting permission from the Principal of the school the investigator was allowed to collect data after administering the treatment.

Tools used for the Study

The investigator had used a tool to collect the data for the present investigation. The tool that the investigator used for the study was Child Abuse Awareness Test for Early Adolescents. This tool was constructed and validated by the investigator and the guide. The Investigator standardized the tool with item analysis, validity and reliability.

Analysis of Data

Hypothesis: 1

There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Table 1. Significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse

S-Significant at 1% level

From the above table it is stated that the mean value of pre-test was 4.38 and post-test was 7.98 and the corresponding standard deviation for pre-test and post-test was 1.19 and 0.90 respectively. The calculated p value is less than the table value at 0.01 significant level. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, it can be stated that there exists significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Hypothesis: 2

There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Table 2. Significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse

S-Significant at 1% level

From the above table it is stated that the mean value of pre-test was 5.09 and post-test was 6.72 and the corresponding standard deviation for pre-test and post-test was 0.72 and 0.83 respectively. The calculated p value is less than the table value at 0.01 significant level. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, it can be stated that there exists significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Hypothesis: 3

There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Table 3. Significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse

S-Significant at 1% level

From the above table it is stated that the mean value of post-test was 7.98 and delayed post-test was 8.15 and the corresponding standard deviation for post-test and delayed post-test was 0.90 and 0.83 respectively. The calculated p value is greater than the table value at 0.01 significant level. Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, it can be stated that there is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Hypothesis: 4

There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Table 4. Significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse

S-Significant at 1% level

From the above table it is stated that the mean value of post-test was 6.72 and delayed post-test was 6.96 and the corresponding standard deviation for post-test and delayed post-test was 0.83 and 0.62 respectively. The calculated p value is greater than the table value at 0.01 significant level. Therefore the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, it can be stated that there is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Major Findings

• There exists significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
• There exists significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
• There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the early adolescents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.
• There is no significant difference between the post-test and delayed post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse based on the component emotional abuse.

Interpretations

Research has shown the huge impact that positive parenting practices can have on a child’s social, emotional, and intellectual development, particularly during the early years (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). This includes a child’s improved sense of safety, the ability to focus attention, and behavioral health. Parent education programs are planned to help parents understand their children’s individual needs and development, as well as their own roles and responsibilities, by offering tools and strategies aimed at maximize positive outcomes for children and families.

The results of the study indicated that there was significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psycho-education for the parents on awareness of child abuse. It is evident that parents got more knowledge about child abuse through psycho-education. Parenting program was effective in increasing knowledge and changing attitudes (Rerkswattavorn & Chanprasertpinyo, 2019).

The knowledge regarding child abuse among parents was insufficient. Considering this aspects, proper awareness progrmmes can be conducted to make the parents alert about child abuse and its prevention. Yadav et al., (2021).

This shows that psycho-education for the parents were more effective. The parents were gave proper knowledge regarding child abuse awareness. The reviewed study supported that designing and implementing training programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse can lead to increased knowledge and practice of the parents (Khanjari, Modabber, Rahmati & Haghani, 2017). Parents are advised to communicate with their children and to provide them with information and material on the prevention of sexual abuse (AlRammah et al., 2019). Child abuse prevention begins at home with educating our children early on about child abuse using suitable language and not instilling fear in children. Apart from that, many practices only slow down children from coming to parents if abuse does occur.

Recommendations

• Parents should avoid physical punishment. This will help the child to develop their emotional stability.
• Parents should provide all the basic need to their children. If they delayed to satisfy their needs may be children try to search another way to satisfy their needs.
• Parents should maintain good relationship with teachers and know more about the behaviour of children in school activities.
• Parents should spend valuable time with their children in eating together, playing indoor or outdoor games with children and also develop the habit of sharing the happenings in their daily life. This may develop positive attitude towards parents and good relationship. Children’s meaningful conversation may reduce child abuse.
• Parents should provide clear knowledge about physical changes happenings while they attain puberty.
• Children need to be careful when they are alone either at home or at other places.
• The management of every school must keep an eye on the particular issue and help the children whenever they are at stake.
• Parents are the most responsible person for eradicate child abuse from the society. So school management may conduct programmes like art of parenting, psycho-education and seminar on child abuse for all parents. They can even conduct these programmes through online. They should maintain good relationship with parents.
• All educational institutions should appoint a counselor and they should provide proper guidance and counseling to both children and parents.
• Government may take initiation to appoint counselors to every school. With the help of the counselors they should organise various awareness programmes for students.
• Teachers should avoid corporal punishment. Use positive reinforcement techniques to maintain discipline in the class room.
• Teachers should discuss childrens issues with the parents in an effective way. They should not complaint the children.
• Teachers should ensure the protection of children in school as well as in the society. They should teach the child abuse related laws to the students. Teachers should help in protective environment around children.
• Teachers should Spend time with children, and creating a comfortable learning environment for the child.

Conclusion

Emotional abuse encompasses all forms of non-physical violence and distress caused through non-verbal and verbal actions. It destructs a student’s confidence and self-worth. A student who is emotionally abuse are aggressive, frequently, miss school, have poor academic performance, experience difficulty in making friends, have impaired ability to feel and express emotional and experiences mental health problems. As students spend most of their time with teachers, it is the role and social responsibility of parents to observe, detect, protect and save child who are with emotional abuse.