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

Abstract

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.

“My Daughter is not like That”: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perception on Child Sexual Abuse Risk

“…It appeared that risk perception and resulting judgments dictate parents' behavior; most parents judge the risk to be low and, due to that, do not see the necessity for specific prevention activities [9,10]. Here also, the most common CSA related discussion theme was still stranger danger [2,3,7,10,13,14]. Unfortunately, by relying on "stranger danger" to teach children about CSA (i. e., online perverts and pedophiles), parents tend to exclude important discussions about risks from peers, partners, and other known people.…”

“…Another issue is the still prevailing misconceptions regarding child sexual abuse and online grooming. For example, one common parental suggestion for CSA prevention is wearing appropriate clothing [14], which reflects a belief that victimization is under the control of the victim. Another is the still-common practice of teaching children about the "stranger danger" [3,8,10,[14][15][16], and deliberately or not, parents tend to focus on the idea that children ought not to engage in online activities with strangers.…”

“…For example, one common parental suggestion for CSA prevention is wearing appropriate clothing [14], which reflects a belief that victimization is under the control of the victim. Another is the still-common practice of teaching children about the "stranger danger" [3,8,10,[14][15][16], and deliberately or not, parents tend to focus on the idea that children ought not to engage in online activities with strangers. A strong focus is on conveying the possible consequence of kidnapping as a result of sharing information or establishing relationships with strangers [17].…”

Child sexual abuse prevention involving mothers: A Quasi‐experimental study with Protection Motivation Theory‐based intervention

“…Parental involvement in CSA prevention practices is promising as discussed below. In a study conducted on parent–child communication and preventive practices found 92% of the parents had direct supervision on their children (Al‐Rammah et al, 2019). Parental involvement with sound knowledge of CSA and prevention practices can directly curtail the occurrence of CSA (J. Q. Chen & Chen, 2005; Finkelhor et al, 1995).…”

“My daughter is not like that”: A qualitative study of parental perception on child sexual abuse risk

“…For example, one common parental suggestion for CSA prevention is wearing appropriate clothing [14], which reflects a belief that victimization is under the control of the victim. Another is the still-common practice of teaching children about the 'stranger danger' [15][3] [8][10] [14], and deliberately or not, parents tend to focus on the idea that children ought not to engage in online activities with strangers. A strong focus is on conveying the possible consequence of kidnapping as a result of sharing information or establishing relationships with strangers [17].…”