title: Nursing students' knowledge of child abuse and neglect in India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Child abuse and neglect are global phenomena. Research on knowledge of and attitudes towards child abuse and neglect among nursing students in India is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards child abuse and neglect.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive design was adopted for the study, in which 158 nursing students participated by responding to a standardised questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings revealed that students' knowledge of child abuse and neglect is inadequate, as the total mean (M) score was 13.84±4.35 (M±standard deviation (SD)). The total attitude score of 50.37±6.196 (M±SD) indicated participants' positive attitudes towards prevention of child abuse and neglect. However, there was a negative relation between age and attitudes towards and knowledge of child abuse. Older students scored higher on the total attitude and knowledge scale compared with younger students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings support the hypothesis that nursing education programmes need to improve the curricular content related to the assessment and reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect, and prevention strategies to improve the wellbeing of children. Curricular changes have the potential to provide nurses with an opportunity to reduce the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in India.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Instructor, College of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Vijayalakshmi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Poreddi
authors.affiliation: Social Worker, The Woolwich Centre, London, UK.
authors.forename: Dharma Reddy
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Pashapu
authors.affiliation: Professor and Principal, College of Nursing National Institute of Mental health and Neurosciences (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: B V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Kathyayani
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: SaiLaxmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, King Saud Abdul-Aziz University for Health Science, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Wafaa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: El-Arousy
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Suresh Bada
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Math
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attitudes; Child abuse and neglect; India; Nursing students