Parents’ Knowledge and Perception of Child Abuse and Neglect in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a crucial issue worldwide that has negative consequences for children and their families. Inability to distinguish between traditional corporal punishment and abuse is part of the problem. OBJECTIVES: To assess parents’ knowledge and perception of child maltreatment and investigate the factors that influence their awareness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited parents with at least one child aged <18 years. Data were collected using a self-administrated online questionnaire. Participants were categorized into two groups based on the median knowledge score. RESULTS: A total of 447 participants completed the questionnaire, of which 62% were female and the average age was 37 years. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (60.6%) consider child abuse and neglect (CAN) to be a common problem in Saudi Arabia. Only 53% had good knowledge of CAN, and more than one-third were unaware of the hotline number available to report any CAN. Almost half of the participants did not consider refusing childhood immunization or smoking in front of children to be a form of CAN. Logistic regression showed that higher education and family income levels were significantly associated with good knowledge (P = 0.013 and 0.003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: While most parents consider CAN to be a common problem in Saudi Arabia, they do not have adequate knowledge of what constitutes emotional abuse and neglect. These findings highlight the need for community-based education programs to increase parents and caregivers’ awareness of child rights.