Abstract
Background: Child abuse encompasses a wide range of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as negligence in child care, all of which can have a severe impact on a child's health and development. The purpose of this study is to assess the population's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours about child abuse in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Saudi Arabia between July and August 2021. This study covers the general population of Saudi Arabia. Online self-completed questionnaires are distributed on social media. The questionnaire has been revised and translated. The questionnaire consists of 16 questions/questions to evaluate knowledge (8), attitude (3), and practice (5) in addition to sociodemographic data. Scores are analysed according to a normal distribution. Results: Our study included 499 individuals, 33.1 % of whom were between the ages of 18 and 25, and 45.3 % of whom were female. Knowledge, attitude, and practise mean (SD) scores were 71.9 +/- 28.1, 46.8 +/- 34.8 and 70.1 +/- 34.8, respectively. Knowledge, attitudes, and practice are all associated with age (P = 0.050). Knowledge (P = 0.001) and practice (P = 0.000) were both significantly related to marital status. Knowledge and practice are strongly associated with having children (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Attitudes of the Saudi Arabian population towards child abuse were low relative to knowledge and practices. To reduce the incidence of child abuse in society, more efforts are needed to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices about child abuse.