Parent–child communication and preventive practices for child sexual abuse among the general population: A community-based study

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate parent–child communication and preventive practices centred on child sexual abuse among a cohort of Saudi population. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at a single primary health care centre (PHC) in Dammam city, KSA. Parent–child communication and preventive practice were measured by a Self-Reporting Questionnaire with binary answers (yes/no). A total of 400 subjects were selected using a stratified random sampling method. RESULTS: This study found that 82.5% (n = 329) of parents talked with their children about the latter's bodily privacy. With regard to supervision, most parents (91.7%) said that their children were under their direct supervision all the time. Other variables wear wearing appropriate clothes (94.7%), supervision (93.5%), and teaching a child about their bodily privacy (93.2%). A majority of the respondents (76.2%) were achieved a good preventive practice score, while 95 (23.8%) were observed to have poor communication practice. Logistic regression analyses for gender (p < 0.020; odds ratio 3.031; 95% CI), marital status (p < 0.026; odds ratio 0.081; 95% CI), and family size of more than one wife (p < 0.041; odds ratio 0.081; 95% CI) were significantly associated with good preventive practice. CONCLUSION: The study showed that parent–child communication practices in KSA seem to be reasonably good. Further parental supervision of children with respect to sexual abuse needs attention. Parents are advised to communicate with their children and to provide them with information and material on the prevention of sexual abuse.