So, it would seem that we need to know the characteristics of emotionally abused children before it can be assessed and defined. This too is covered extensively by Seaberg, Giovannoni and Becerra. Seaberg describes an emotionally abused child as having poor appetites, lying and stealing, having low self esteem, underachieving, depressed, aggressive, etc. He goes on to say that emotional child abuse outcomes could cover almost every nonnormal condition (Seaberg 24). Alternatively, Giovannoni and Becerra have a rather extensive and well defined list of possible behaviors and problems associated with the emotionally abused child. They say the child may be involved in physical or verbal assaults, has difficulty forming relationships, few positive behaviors, high anxiety level, etc. (223). Their description of outcomes also tends to overlap with those of Seaberg but it is much more specific, rather than broadly covering anything nonnormal.
