United Kingdom, May 7 -- Ariel Winter's self-esteem was left "totally damaged" after her years of child stardom.

The 27-year-old actress starred as Alex Dunphy on the ABC sitcom 'Modern Family' throughout her teenage years but became a "target" of hate and struggled to accept herself at that time.

She told PEOPLE: "I mean, I was 14.It totally damaged my self-esteem. No matter what I was going through, I was a target. It made it very difficult to look at myself in the mirror and go, 'I love this version of me.'"

Ariel has always maintained that her mother Chrisoula Workman was abusive towards her, and while Christina has always publicly denied those allegations, the actress ended up living in the care of her older sister Shanelle Gray b...