Development of the knowledge and awareness scale regarding sexual abuse – child form (aged 7–9 years)

Sexual abuse is increasing at an alarming rate in our age, with pre-school and school-age children representing the most vulnerable demographic. A review of studies on sexual abuse in the United States reveals that research has been conducted with preschool and adolescent children. A paucity of research on the subject of abuse in school-age children was observed. In this study, a visual and story-based "Knowledge and Awareness Level Scale on Sexual Abuse - Child Form" was developed to measure the knowledge and awareness levels of 7-9 year old children about sexual abuse. The study was designed according to the quantitative general survey model, with 369 children from two different primary school in Karaman during the 2024-2025 academic year. In the course of scale development, the content validity index was calculated to be .86, a result of interviews conducted with field experts. An explanatory factor analysis was subsequently performed, revealing a single-factor structure with 36% variance explanation. The KR-20 coefficient for internal consistency was found to be .60, and the test-retest reliability was .46. These values are acceptable for the child sample. A comprehensive demographic analysis was conducted to ascertain the factors that significantly influence awareness scores. The analysis revealed that age, socio-economic level, and parental education level were found to have a substantial impact on awareness scores. In contrast, gender and the number of siblings were found to have no significant impact on awareness scores. The results suggest that the developed scale has the potential for application in academic research.