ABSTRACT
Researchers have historically overlooked the influence of childhood emotional abuse on the emerging attachment system and the formation of later intimate relationships in adolescence and adulthood. The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma is to shed some light on the role of emotional forms of child maltreatment on the development of attachment and provide some insight into how clinicians might overcome attachment difficulties that result from childhood histories of emotional abuse. This introduction provides a brief overview of each article in this special issue.
