2025, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part A

author(s)
Prema Krishnan, Niranjani S, Prabu S, Asvini M, Jasphin Vency and Jayavani

abstract
This study investigates the effectiveness of different educational approaches in enhancing mothers' knowledge regarding child abuse, a significant social and health concern. Recognizing mothers as primary caregivers and vital community communicators, their understanding of child abuse is crucial for prevention and early identification. This research compared the impact of a peer-led "mother to mother programme" against a traditional "structured teaching programme." A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was employed with 100 mothers from selected suburban areas in Chennai, India, divided equally between the two programme types (n=50 each). Knowledge levels concerning various aspects of child abuse (meaning, signs, prevention, etc.) were assessed using a structured questionnaire before the intervention and again seven days post-intervention. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. Initial assessments showed predominantly inadequate knowledge in both groups (>80%). While both interventions led to statistically significant improvements in knowledge scores (p<0.001), the mother-to-mother programme demonstrated significantly greater effectiveness, achieving a higher mean post-test score (64.2) compared to the structured teaching programme (50.1) (p<0.001). These results highlight the superior efficacy of the peer-based mother-to-mother model for improving knowledge about child abuse among mothers in this setting, suggesting its potential as a valuable community health education strategy.