Childhood taunts 'are as bad for adult mental health as violence'

It's been a playground retort to bullies for generations of children.

But it seems 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me', may not be true after all.

Verbal abuse of children could be as damaging to their mental health in adulthood as physical abuse, according to researchers.

Those exposed to such abuse when young were likely to feel disconnected, pessimistic, and emotionally unwell in later life, a study of more than 20,000 adults in England and Wales found.

Adults who were physically abused as children had a 52 per cent higher chance of experiencing low mental wellbeing.

This stood at around 64 per cent for those who had been subjected to solely verbal abuse.

While verbal abuse had this marginally higher impact, researchers said the difference was not statistically significant and further studies would be needed. Being exposed to both types increased the risk by 115 per cent, the study led by Liverpool John Moores University found.

Professor Mark Bellis, the study's lead author, said: 'Our research shows verbal abuse in childhood may inflict mental health scars as deep and enduring as those caused by physical abuse.'

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The prevalence of verbal abuse has risen in recent decades 'eroding the long-term mental health benefits we should see from reducing physical abuse', the study, published in BMJ Open, suggested.

It found the prevalence of child physical abuse halved from 20 per cent among those born between 1950 and 1979 to 10 per cent among those born in 2000 or later.

But when it came to verbal abuse, the prevalence rose from 12 per cent among those born before 1950 to around 20 per cent among those born in 2000 or later.

Researchers said an estimated one in six children endure physical abuse, primarily from family members and caregivers. One in three are subjected to verbal abuse.

Jessica Bondy, founder of Words Matter, which aims to end childhood verbal abuse by adults, said: 'We must act now to confront the lasting harm caused by cruel, critical or controlling language.

'We need to build children up – not knock them down.

'The mental health of the next generation and our shared future depend on it.'