Awareness of child abuse and neglect among working parents in Chennai, India: A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey

BACKGROUND: Child abuse and neglect is one of the foremost growing public health problems in India. In the current scenario, there is an increasing frequency of both the father and mother of a child to go to work which leads to a decrease in the quality time spent with their children. This unsupervised or unmonitored time plays a vital role in the child's growth and development as any form of abuse or neglect during this period may it be physical, emotional, or mental will cause a significant and far reaching consequence in the child. Thus, proper knowledge and awareness is required for early identification and intervention by the parents to prevent such untoward consequences. AIM: The aim of this study is to assess (i) the knowledge and awareness regarding child abuse and neglect among working parents in Chennai and (ii) to evaluate their understanding of the methods and steps taken in the identification and prevention of child abuse and neglect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaire consisting of 14 questions was distributed to 212 randomly selected working parents in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Completed questionnaires were collected and subjected to data analysis. RESULTS: Majority of the working parents were aware of the various parental and environmental factors that could result in child maltreatment and just nearly half of them had taken proper steps to prevent such untoward occurrence in their families. CONCLUSION: Proper steps have to be taken by the parents and each member of the society as a whole to prevent and reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect. This study evaluated the understanding and attitude of the working parents toward physical child abuse, their knowledge on the emotional and psychological neglect, and the steps they are willing to take or have taken to prevent it in order to build a better future for the children.