Evaluation of child neglect and abuse awareness and parental self-efficacy in parents with children aged 3-6 years

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effect of parents' self-efficacy levels on their awareness of child neglect and abuse. Methods: This descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted between May and August 2025 with 472 parents whose mean age was 32.26 ± 5.74 years. Data were collected using the Parent and Child Socio-Demographic Information Form, the Parental Awareness of Child Neglect and Abuse Scale, and the Parental Self-Efficacy Scale. In the statistical evaluation of the data, the independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, Tukey test, and simple linear regression analysis were used. Results: The majority of participants reported being knowledgeable about child neglect and abuse (91.7%). Simple linear regression analysis revealed that parental self-efficacy level had a statistically significant and positive effect on the level of awareness of child neglect and abuse (β = 0.450, p = 0.001). Parental self-efficacy explained 20.2% of the variance in parental awareness. Conclusion: The results indicate that parents who feel more self-efficacious tend to have a higher level of awareness on this issue. This finding highlights the importance of incorporating components aimed at strengthening parents' level of self-efficacy, in addition to increasing their knowledge, in programs designed to protect children from neglect and abuse.