ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1535260
Psychological Factors Influencing Child Safety Awareness: A Study on Abduction Prevention Education
Provisionally accepted
- Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
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Background: Child safety awareness is critical, particularly in abduction prevention. This study investigates psychological factors influencing safety awareness in children, recognizing the limitations of primarily informational approaches.Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed with 300 children aged 6-12 and 30 parents/educators. Quantitative data were collected via surveys measuring self-efficacy, anxiety, and safety awareness.Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews exploring experiences and perceptions.Results: Quantitative analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between self-efficacy and safety awareness (r = 0.62, p < .001, 95% CI [0.54, 0.70]) and a significant negative correlation between anxiety and safety awareness (r = -0.47, p < .001, 95% CI [-0.55, -0.38]). Qualitatively, key themes included the importance of open communication, the complex impact of parental anxiety (e.g., one parent noted, "I worry I'm scaring him"), and the effectiveness of interactive educational strategies.: Comprehensive education programs should enhance self-efficacy while managing anxiety and promoting open communication. This research integrates psychological insights to inform future interventions to improve child protection strategies.
Keywords: Child safety awareness, abduction prevention, self-efficacy, Anxiety, Educational strategies
Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ampofo, Bentum-Micah, Qinggong, Changfeng, Guoan, Sun and Xusheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Joshua Ampofo, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
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