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 inuence 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 signicantly inuence 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.
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