note on sexual abuse is that research has revealed that sexually abused children have sleep disruption. They had higher levels and percentages of nocturnal activity, were twice as active at night and they emitted a higher percentage of their total daily activity during the night than the control groups. They took three times longer to fall asleep and had significantly poorer mean sleep efficiency (Glod, Teicher, Hartman & Harakal, 1997). This would affect the normal functioning of these children in all areas, as a good night sleep is very important. Sexual abuse has detrimental effects on children and leaves scars that lasts a lifetime.But what about the types of abuse that are not that obvious? Emotional abuse has devastating effects on children. Some studies have shown that children who suffer from emotional abuse have the worst outcome of all abuse and are better predictors of later problems (Augoustinos, 1987; Briere & Runtz, 1988, 1990; Claussen & Crittenden, 1991; Glauthier, Stollak, Messe & Aronoff, 1996; Kaplan et al., 1999; Simeon, Guralnik, Schmeidler, Sirof & Knutelska, 2001). Emotional abuse appeared to be specifically associated with subsequent low self-evaluation. This is probably due to the childs internalization of parental statements as a basis for self-perception (Briere & Runtz, 1990). This could lead to other problems in the childs life. Emotionally abused children also showed more psychological difficulties. It was found that subjects who were emotionally abused as children showed higher rates of anxiety, depression, interpersonal sensitivity and dissociation. The researchers estimated that having above average levels of psychological or physical maltreatment increases the likelihood of above average interpersonal sensitivity, dissociation, and/or depression by 45-50% (Briere & Runtz, 1988). In fact, it was shown that emotional abuse had a stronger relationship to long-term psychological functioning than other form...
