A Review of Studies Examining Parental Attitudes That Lead to Emotional Neglect

Abstract

Emotional neglect is less visible than other forms of child maltreatment and is often recognized
much later. In most cases, parents have limited awareness that their attitudes and behaviors may
lead to emotional neglect, while children also have low awareness of being exposed to emotional
neglect by their parents. Therefore, this study was conducted to compile research on emotional
neglect resulting from parental attitudes and to raise awareness of emotional neglect as an
invisible form of child maltreatment. In line with this aim, studies examining parental attitudes
associated with childhood emotional neglect were identified through searches of the Google
Scholar, Council of Higher Education (YÖK) National Thesis Center, and ResearchGate databases
using the keywords parental attitude, emotional neglect, and emotional abuse (and their Turkish
equivalents). A total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings indicated that neglectful,
overprotective, overly permissive, oppressive, inconsistent, and authoritarian parenting attitudes
contribute to emotional neglect. Additionally, mothers constituted the majority of participants in
the reviewed studies. To increase parental awareness and reduce emotional neglect, it is
recommended that emotional neglect awareness programs for parents be expanded.
Furthermore, educational programs for children should also be disseminated to enhance their
awareness and understanding of emotional neglect.