(CNN) — Cruel words can leave a mark on a child –– and may have as much of an impact as physical abuse, new research has found.

People who experienced physical abuse as a child were at a 50% increased risk of reporting low mental health in adulthood compared with those with no abuse, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Open. Those who experienced verbal abuse had a 60% increase in likelihood of low well-being.

The prevalence of physical abuse in people in England and Wales has halved, from 20% in people born from 1950 to 1979 to 10% in those born in or after 2000, according to the study. Verbal abuse, on the other hand, has increased.

In the United States, more than 60% of people participating in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Beh

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