Pattern and Prevalence of Physical and Psychological Child Abuse Among Preparatory and Secondary School Students in Hafar Al-Batin: A Community-Based Survey

Abstract

Background: Child abuse is a major public health and social issue globally which has many harmful physical and mental impacts. There is not much information available about its prevalence among children attending school in Saudi Arabia and even less in community-based locations.

Objectives of the study: To identify the pattern and frequency of child abuse amongst preparatory and secondary school children in the city of Hafar Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia, in terms of physical and psychological abuse. The method used was prospective, cross-sectional, and community based, which included 320 students aged 11-17 from seven preparatory and secondary schools in the city of Hafar Al-Batin, from May to June 2025. The participants were asked to fill out the Child Abuse Self-Report Scale (CASRS), the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A). Demographic data was also obtained. Data was statistically analysed in SPSS version 25 with p ≤ 0.05 as the level of significance.

Results: The most frequent findings were of physical and psychological child abuse amongst the students taking part. There were significant differences in the abuse scores between education groups and between males and females. Higher child maltreatment scores correlated with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms.Increased child maltreatment scores were correlated to increased rates of child maltreatment.

The conclusions are: Child abuse is a serious problem in the children of preparatory and secondary schools in Hafar Al-Batin. Early identification of at-risk children (screening in school and health care) and preventive practices and multi-disciplinary collaboration are the best tools to minimize abuse and its psychological impact.