ABSTRACT
Background Parents serve a fundamental role in monitoring developmental milestones and identifying potential delays during early childhood, enabling timely interventions. However, previous studies in Saudi Arabia have shown limited awareness among parents regarding age-specific norms and red flags across developmental domains. This knowledge gap can severely impact the detection and management of abnormalities. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of Saudi parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning childhood developmental trajectories is imperative. Methodology This cross-sectional study assessed developmental milestone awareness, beliefs, and behaviors among Saudi parents. A sample of 1,052 parents completed a validated 38-item questionnaire covering knowledge, attitudes, practices, and demographics. Knowledge was assessed across developmental domains using 22 multiple-choice questions, with scores categorized as excellent (≥75%), good (50%-75%), fair (40%-50%), or poor (≤39%). Attitudes and practices were captured on five-point Likert scales. Descriptive and chi-square analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 28.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results The majority of participants were females (844, 80.2%), with a mean age of 38.8 years. Serious knowledge inadequacies existed regarding developmental timelines across domains, especially motor milestones like crawling (93, 29.4% correct), sitting unsupported (45, 27.6%), pointing at objects (278, 26.4%), and responding to names (440, 41.8%). Overall, 2 (0.2%) participants showed excellent and 281 (26.7%) showed good understanding, while 490 (46.6%) had poor knowledge. Significant sociodemographic variations were observed, with women and experienced parents demonstrating greater awareness (P < 0.001). Despite knowledge gaps, 542 (51.5%) actively sought developmental information themselves, and over 50% trusted pediatric guidance. Most participants expressed a willingness to undergo screenings if risk factors existed and reported spending a considerable amount of daily interaction time with their children, focusing on developmental needs. Conclusions Critical developmental milestone knowledge shortfalls and selective attitudes persist among Saudi parents, warranting public education and physician-parent communication that enhance interventions to enable impactful developmental monitoring and prompt responses to abnormalities in a timely manner.
ABSTRACT
STUDY PURPOSE: This study aims to analyze various influencing factors among generations X (Gen X), Y (Gen Y), and Z (Gen Z) of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mental health virtual assistants. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted in this study. The study sample consisted of outpatients diagnosed with various mental health illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and behavioral disorders. A survey questionnaire was designed based on the factors (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioural intention) identified from the unified theory of acceptance and use of the technology model. Ethical approval was received from the Ethics Committee at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: A total of 506 patients participated in the study, with over 80% having moderate to high experience in using mental health AI assistants. The ANOVA results for performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), and behavioral intentions (BI) indicate that there are statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z participants. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the significance of considering generational differences in attitudes and perceptions, with Gen Y and Gen Z demonstrating more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to use AI mental health virtual assistants, while Gen X appears to be more cautious.
