Child sexual abuse knowledge and attitudes of Syrian refugee parents and related factors

Abstract

Background: Child sexual abuse is an important health problem that disrupts the physical and mental health of children. In order to protect children from abuse, the knowledge and attitude levels of their families need to be increased. Purpose: This study was to determine the knowledge and attitude levels of Syrian refugee parents regarding child sexual abuse who lived in Turkey. Design and methods: The study was carried out using a cross-sectional, descriptive, relationship-seeking design. A personal information form and the Child Sexual Abuse Knowledge/Attitude Scale for Parents (CSAKAS) were used. Results: In the study, the mean age of the participants was 33.0 ± 8.2; 74.7% were women; 93.7%. It was also found that the mean scores of the participants regarding such sub-dimensions of CSAKAS as myths/facts, belief, information, attitudes, services and reporting information and preventive attitudes differed statistically significantly with respect to their education level, income level, family type, employment status and having a disabled child (p < 0,05). Conclusion: Based on the results, it could be stated that the parents who were university graduates, who had good levels of perceived income, who had a nuclear family, who were employed and who had disabled children had better levels of knowledge and attitude regarding child sexual abuse, and it could also be stated that the participants had moderate levels of knowledge and attitudes regarding child sexual abuse. Practice implications: This study shows that pediatric nurses can play an important role in protecting, developing and improving the physical and mental health of children by increasing the knowledge and attitude levels of families in order to prevent child sexual abuse.