The DOI matches its Crossref record; 16 of the 18 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Unheard and unseen: a systematic literature review of emotional abuse among Indian adolescents.
Open accessAbstract
Background: Emotional abuse is both prevalent and underrecognized particularly in culturally complex settings like India. Adolescents, being in a critical developmental phase, are especially vulnerable to the long-lasting psychological effects of emotional abuse. This qualitative literature review aims to synthesize findings from primary studies that explore the lived experiences of emotional abuse among Indian adolescents and identify emerging patterns across sociocultural contexts. Method: Electronic databases, including DOAJ, Google Scholar, ProQuest, JSTOR, Pubmed, PsycNet, and SCOPUS, were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English up to March 2025. Inclusion criteria comprised qualitative or mixed-methods research focusing on emotional abuse among adolescents aged 12–20 in Indian contexts. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) was used for quality assessment. Results: Five major thematic domains were identified across the included studies: (1) Family as a primary site of emotional abuse; (2) Gendered experiences of abuse; (3) Cultural normalization and silence; (4) Psychological and emotional consequences; and (5) Coping and resilience among adolescents. These themes reflect shared experiences of emotional abuse shaped by cultural, familial, and gender-based expectations. Conclusions: This review highlights the urgent need for increased awareness and culturally sensitive interventions addressing emotional abuse in Indian adolescents. The findings suggest that parents, educators, and policymakers must recognize emotionally harmful behaviors and implement prevention-oriented strategies, particularly through non-violent communication and adolescent mental health support frameworks.
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“Chronic emotional abuse also disrupts emotional regulation processes (Waseem and Firdous, 2025).”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as Waseem and Firdous, 2025
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Bhardwaj, S., Ali, A., & Paul, F. A. (2026) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1805594 · Cited by 1
“Chronic emotional abuse also disrupts emotional regulation processes (Waseem and Firdous, 2025).”
Alqurashi, T. S., Alotaibi, S. M., & Aljohani, A. I. (2026) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000048968
Arunachaleeswaran, P., Chandrasekaran, S., Rajesh, L., Vijayalakshmi, U., Durairaj, J., Singh, S. P., THARA, R., & Raghavan, V. (2026) · Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1177/02537176261474726
Metadata
- Authors
- Waseem, A., & Firdous, N.
- Affiliations
- GITAM University (IN)
- Aligarh Muslim University (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Waseem, Afreen
- ORCID
- Waseem, Afreen
- Venue
- Adolescents
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2025-08-01
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 41
- ISSN
- 2673-7051 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4412940643
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3
- FWCI
- 0.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Adolescents (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- emotional abuse, Indian adolescents, family-based abuse, psychological effects of abuse, coping and resilience, nonviolent communication, adolescent mental health, abuse prevention, sociocultural context
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