Emotional abuse is any type of abuse that involves the continual emotional mistreatment of a child. It’s sometimes called psychological abuse. Emotional abuse can involve deliberately trying to scare, humiliate, isolate or ignore a child.
Emotional abuse is often a part of other kinds of abuse, which means it can be difficult to spot the signs or tell the difference, though it can also happen on its own.
See the NSPCC – emotional abuse page for more information including the different types of emotional abuse, what the signs are, the effects of emotional abuse, who’s at risk and what to do if a child reveals abuse.