LA – A recent study, conducted by experts from Wingate University in North Carolina and University College London, in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect suggests that shouting at, denigrating, or verbally threatening children can be just as damaging to their development as physical or sexual abuse. It reviewed a whopping 166 previous studies on child abuse. What they found was eye-opening: childhood verbal abuse, which includes yelling and hurtful words, deserves its own category of maltreatment. The recognition is crucial because verbal abuse can have lifelong negative consequences.