The effect of child neglect and abuse information studies on parents' awareness levels during the COVID-19 pandemic

The research was conducted in order to increase the knowledge and awareness of parents with children between the ages of 4–6 during the COVID-19 pandemic process, through social media applications and programs. The research was designed as a quasi-experimental study with pre-testing, post-testing, and control groups using a quantitative research method. There are 67 parents in the study group, 32 of which are experimental, and 35 are of a controlled group. Data was obtained using The Personal Information Form, Child Neglect and Abuse Awareness Scale for Parents, and Parental Abuse Scale. The “Child Neglect and Abuse WhatsApp and Online Education Program” was applied to the participants in the experimental group. Each day, three messages were sent to the participants in the experimental group on the subjects of child neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse, respectively. In addition, online training was given on the same subjects and in the same order in four sessions over the Zoom application. The participants in the control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the implementation of the Child Neglect and Abuse WhatsApp and Online Education Program, data collection tools were given to the participants in the experimental and control groups. Paired samples t Test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test were used to analyze the data. As a result of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test scores and the post test scores of the parents in the control group. When the differences between the pre and post test scores of the parents in the experimental group and the pre and post tests scores of the parents in the experimental and control groups were compared, it was observed that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group. In line with this result, it can be said that the education applied has had an impact on the parents' knowledge and awareness of child neglect and abuse.