Parental knowledge of child sexual abuse, parent-child communication, and protective parenting behaviors: A cross-sectional multisite study in Egypt.

BACKGROUND

Child sexual abuse is a major child protection concern. Parents play an important preventive role through awareness, communication with children, and protective parenting practices. Evidence from Egypt is limited.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined associations among parental knowledge of child sexual abuse, parent-child communication, and protective parenting behaviors among Egyptian parents of school-aged children, and explored whether parent-child communication statistically mediated the association between knowledge and protective behaviors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional multisite descriptive correlational study was conducted among 1105 parents recruited from pediatric outpatient clinics in governmental hospitals across four Egyptian governorates: Cairo, Damietta, Qalyubia/Benha, and Beheira. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were collected using self-administered Arabic questionnaires: a demographic data sheet, the Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Scale for Parents, a Parent-Child Communication Practices Scale, and a Protective Parenting Practices Scale. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and Hayes' PROCESS Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap samples were used.

RESULTS

Parental knowledge, parent-child communication, and protective behaviors differed significantly across several sociodemographic characteristics. Parent-child communication and parental knowledge were positively correlated with protective behaviors. Mediation analysis showed a significant indirect association between parental knowledge and protective behaviors through parent-child communication, indicating partial statistical mediation.

CONCLUSION

Parental knowledge, parent-child communication, and protective parenting behaviors were positively associated. Findings should be interpreted cautiously because of the cross-sectional design, convenience sampling, and self-reported measures. Longitudinal and intervention studies are needed.

IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: Pediatric nurses should provide family-centered prevention education.