Abstract
In the present research, the aim was to develop, implement, and examine the effectiveness of an education program for mothers for the prevention of child neglect. In the study, the “Mother Education Program to Prevent Child Neglect” was initially designed for implementation and a quasi-experimental design involving pretest/posttest, and one-month follow-up test was implemented to examine the effectiveness of the trial procedure. The study group of the research consisted of 24 mothers (12 mothers in the intervention group and 12 mothers in the comparison group) who agreed to participate in the study. In order to collect the sociodemographic information about the children and their mothers, an “Individual Information Form” was administered. In order to assess the neglectful behaviors of the mothers, the Parent Form of the Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale-Parents Form was used. As a result of the study, a significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest scores of the mothers in the intervention group (p<.05). The cognitive neglect and the total neglect scores of the mothers in the intervention group were found to significantly decrease after the completion of the education program. The results of the follow-up test also revealed that the effect of the education program for mothers was sustained after one month. Resultantly, suggestions related to the prevention of child neglect have been made for parents, professionals, institutions, and researchers working on the subject.