Child neglect in Saudi Arabia: The neglected form of child maltreatment

Maha AlFarhan; Jana AlMelhem; Abeer ElMahadi; Haneen AlTurki; Saleheen Hassan; Maha Almuneef

doi:10.15537/smj.2022.43.6.20220117

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Figure 1
- Types of physical injuries reported in neglected children during the initial diagnosis.

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Table 1

- Demographic information on child neglect victims in Saudi Arabia (N=309).

Variables	n (%)^*
Victim’s age, mean±SD	4.4±4.1
Victim’s gender
Male	160 (51.8)
Female	143 (46.3)
Living arrangements
Live with both parents	270 (87.4)
Live with single parent	27 (8.7)
Live with extended family member	6 (1.9)
Family size (including parents)
<6	91 (29.4)
≥6	172 (55.7)
Number of siblings (category)
<4	121 (39.2)
≥4	144 (46.6)
Father’s employment
Yes	190 (61.5)
No	110 (35.6)
Mother’s employment
Yes	25 (8.1)
No	276 (89.3)
Victim’s disability
Yes	44 (14.2)
No	259 (83.8)
Types of neglect
Physical	17 (5.5)
Medical	121 (39.2)
Supervisory	195 (63.1)
Educational	10 (3.2)
Emotional	21 (6.8)

^*Percentages may not sum up to 100 due to missing data. Data are presented as a numer and precentage (%). Pearson’s Chi-square test analysis was used to compare types of neglect and demographic variables. SD: standard deviation

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Table 2

- Prevalence of different types of child neglect by demographics.

Types	Age						Gender			Living arrangements				Number of siblings
#x00A0;	<1	1-3	>3-5	>5-12	>12	P-value	Male	Female	P-value	Live with both parents	Live with single parent	Live with extended family members	P-value	<4	≥4	P-value
Physical	2 (4.8)	7 (5.3)	2 (8.7)	4 (4.3)	2 (14.3)	NS	10 (6.3)	7 (4.9)	NS	14 (5.2)	3 (11.1)	0 (0.0)	NS	2 (1.7)	15 (10.4)	<0.01
Medical	17 (40.5)	40 (30.5)	7 (30.4)	51 (54.8)	6 (42.9)	<0.01	68 (42.5)	53 (37.1)	NS	108 (40.0)	12 (44.4)	1 (16.7)	NS	37 (30.6)	69 (47.9)	<0.01
Supervisory	31 (73.8)	102 (77.9)	14 (60.9)	42 (45.2)	6 (42.9)	<0.01	101 (63.1)	94 (65.7)	NS	175 (64.8)	17 (63.0)	3 (50.0)	NS	85 (70.2)	86 (59.7)	NS
Educational	0 (0.0)	1 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	8 (8.6)	1 (7.1)	<0.05	2 (1.3)	8 (5.6)	<0.05	8 (3.0)	2 (7.4)	0 (0.0)	NS	1 (0.8)	9 (6.3)	<0.05
Emotional	3 (7.1)	4 (3.1)	2 (8.7)	10 (10.8)	2 (14.3)	NS	12 (7.5)	9 (6.3)	NS	15 (5.6)	5 (18.5)	1 (16.7)	<0.05	11 (9.1)	10 (6.9)	NS

Data are presented as a number and precentage (%). Pearson’s Chi-square test analysis was used to compare types of neglect and demographic variables. NS: not significant

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Table 3
- Relationship between child neglect and underlying disability.
Types Underlying disability
#x00A0; Yes No P-value
Physical 3 (6.8) 14 (5.4) NS
Medical 29 (65.9) 92 (35.5) <0.01
Supervisory 16 (36.4) 179 (69.1) <0.01
Educational 0 (0.0) 10 (3.9) NS
Emotional 5 (11.4) 16 (6.2) NS
Data are presented as a number and precentage (%). Pearson’s Chi-square test analysis was used to compare types of neglect and demographic variables. NS: not significant

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Table 4

- Factors associated with child neglect in Saudi Arabia.

Variables	Physical (n=17)	Medical (n=121)	Supervisory (n=195)	Educational (n=10)	Emotional (n=21)
#x00A0;	OR (95% CI)
Victim’s age^*
<1	0.5 (0.0-4.5)	1.2 (0.3-4.3)	3.2 (0.8-12.3)	-	0.6 (0.0-4.8)
1-3	0.8 (0.1-4.7)	0.9 (0.2-2.9)	3.3 (1.0-11.1)	0.1 (0.0-3.1)	0.2 (0.0-1.7)
>3-5	1.4 (0.1-12.5)	0.6 (0.1-3.1)	1.6 (0.3-7.2)	-	0.9 (0.1-9.0)
>5-12	0.4 (0.0-3.0)	2.0 (0.6-6.7)	0.9 (0.2-3.1)	1.7 (0.1-16.1)	0.8 (0.1-4.8)
Victim’s being female^†	0.7 (0.2-2.0)	0.7 (0.4-1.1)	1.1 (0.6-2.0)	4.5 (1.1-22.8)	0.8 (0.3-2.1)
Number of siblings^§	7.0 (1.5-32.9)	1.9 (1.1-3.3)	0.8 (0.4-1.4)	6.2 (0.7-52.4)	0.4 (0.1-1.3)
Father’s unemployment^¥	1.3 (0.4-3.8)	1.1 (0.6-2.1)	0.5 (0.3-1.0)	0.9 (0.2-3.8)	3.5 (1.3-9.3)

Pearson’s Chi-square test analysis was used to compare types of neglect and demographic variables. ^*Reference is age >12, ^†reference is male gender, ^§reference is ≤4 siblings, ^¥reference is father’s employment, OR: odd ratio, CI: confidence interval