KNOWLEDGE OF PARENTS TOWARDS SEPARATION ANXIETY DISORDER IN SAUDI ARABIA

Background:Anxiety is a common condition among young children that can be detected in the early years of life. Separation anxiety is a subtype of anxiety that can affect young children and negatively inuence their physical and intellectual development. Hence, the knowledge of parents about separation anxiety is crucial to reduce its incidence among children, Objective: This survey analysis aims to investigate the knowledge of parents living in Saudi Arabia towards separation anxiety, its causes, risk factors diagnosis, and treatment. Design and Setting:Aself-administered structured survey was sent to the public online targeting parents. The survey included questions to collect data on parents' demographics, their children, their knowledge about separation anxiety, and any children with separation anxiety. Data analysis was excuted through SPSS program version 26. Results: 1090 parents responded to this online survey, with 27.9% of them were in the age group between 36 to 45 years old, and 29.4% had two children aged less than 18 years old. As for the knowledge of patients regarding separation anxiety, 23.6% knew about the disease. 29.4% of parents strongly agreed that separation anxiety is a medical condition; 21.6% strongly agreed that these children are anxious and avoid going to school. As for parents who have children with separation anxiety, 7.6% of the parents had children with separation anxiety, and 7.3% had children with an age onset of the disease at less than four years old. As for treatment, 42.4% of the responders strongly agreed that separation anxiety should be treated as soon as possible to prevent mental health problems, and 73.2% of parents agreed that it could be achieved through family therapy, while only 4.2% of parents thought that there is no treatment for separation anxiety. The parents' average knowledge score was 4.6±3.6, with a minimum score of zero and a maximum score of 27. Factors that can signicantly inuence knowledge towards separation anxiety are gender, age group, nationality, marital status, educational level, employment status, place of residence, and having children less than 18 years old at p-value <0.001. Conclusion: The knowledge of parents towards childhood separation anxiety is considered unsatisfactory and requires improvement. Awareness campaigns in public areas should be held for this purpose.