Search Results (1,892)

Introduction: Talent management is increasingly relevant to nursing workforce sustainability, yet limited evidence has examined how nurses simultaneously perceive talent-related factors, organisational practices, and attraction and retention outcomes. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between talent-management factors, organisational talent-management practices and perceived attraction and retention outcomes, while examining differences according to nurses’ sociodemographic and professional characteristics. Methodology: A multicentre, descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study was conducted with 1004 nurses from 29 public and private hospital organisations across Portugal. Talent management was assessed using the 87-item Talent Attitudes Questionnaire, comprising 12 subdimensions across factors, practices and organisational indicators. Results: Nurses reported favourable perceptions of talent-management factors (M = 3.34), particularly leadership competencies, but less favourable organisational practices (M = 3.02). Attraction (M = 2.27) and retention (M = 2.31) had the lowest scores, whereas perceived consequences of talent management were high (M = 3.49), indicating a discrepancy between talent recognition and perceived organisational capacity to attract and retain nurses. Attraction and retention were strongly correlated (r = 0.77), while organisational facilitators showed moderate associations with both outcomes. Sector-related differences were observed for turnover and inhibiting factors. Discussion: The findings suggest a potential talent-management translation gap, an interpretive, descriptive framing rather than a directly tested construct, whereby recognition of talent and its organisational consequences coexists with limited perceived capacity to attract and retain nurses. Conclusions: Nursing workforce sustainability requires translating talent recognition into organisational conditions that support professional development, attraction, and retention. These findings provide an integrated organisational perspective on talent management and nurse retention. Full article

Background: Women’s awareness and health beliefs regarding urinary incontinence (UI) and Kegel exercises may influence both symptom management and broader lifestyle behaviors. This study examined associations between women’s health beliefs about and awareness of UI and Kegel exercises and healthy and sustainable lifestyle behaviors. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study included 627 women aged ≥18 years. Data were collected using scales: the Health Belief Scale for Urinary Incontinence and Kegel Exercise (UIKE-HBS), the Urinary Incontinence Awareness and Attitude Scale (UIAAS), and the Healthy and Sustainable Lifestyle Scale (HSLS). Relationships were analyzed using bivariate correlations and hierarchical regression. Results: UI was reported by 13.7%, and 35.4% had prior Kegel exercise experience. In bivariate analyses, HSLS total score positively correlated with UIKE-HBS Health Motivation, Perceived Benefits, and Self-Efficacy (all p < 0.001). In hierarchical regression, covariates explained 5.0% of HSLS variance (R² = 0.050). Adding eleven subscales significantly increased explained variance by 23.6% (ΔR² = 0.236, p < 0.001; total R² = 0.286). In the fully adjusted model, UIKE-HBS Health Motivation (β = 0.317, p < 0.001), UIAAS Restriction (β = 0.147, p = 0.003), UIAAS Accepting Incontinence (β = 0.142, p = 0.001) and prior Kegel experience (β = 0.091, p = 0.032) emerged as significant independent predictors of HSLS scores. Self-Efficacy and Perceived Benefits were not independently significant in the final model (p > 0.05). Conclusions: UI was reported by a notable proportion of young women, while engagement in preventive pelvic floor exercises remains limited. Health motivation serves as the primary independent predictor in adjusted models. Interventions targeting health belief constructs specifically enhancing health motivation alongside addressing lifestyle restrictions and acceptance may most effectively foster healthy and sustainable lifestyle behaviors. Full article

Background/Objectives: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly reshaping healthcare by influencing professional roles, learning demands, and career development. Guided by Self-Determination Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study examined the indirect association between attitudes toward AI and intrinsic motivation through career engagement among healthcare workers while accounting for demographic and occupational characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 902 healthcare workers in Türkiye. Ordinal confirmatory factor analyses based on polychoric correlations were estimated using diagonally weighted least squares. Alternative measurement models and one theoretically justified wording-method association were evaluated. Covariate-adjusted regression mediation analyses were performed using HC3 robust standard errors and 5000 nonparametric bootstrap resamples with bias-corrected confidence intervals. Common method variance, effect sizes, predictive relevance, subgroup analyses among nurses and midwives, and a sensitivity analysis using a 20-item intrinsic motivation scale were also examined. Results: The selected measurement models demonstrated acceptable to excellent fit, although the GAAIS S-1 model showed borderline RMSEA and two reverse-worded IMSE items retained weak loadings. A statistically significant indirect association between attitudes toward AI and intrinsic motivation was observed through career engagement (indirect association = 0.099, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap CI [0.071, 0.132]), accounting for 27.9% of the total association. The 20-item sensitivity analysis yielded a similar indirect association (indirect association = 0.105, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap CI [0.075, 0.139]). Profession-stratified analyses showed significant indirect associations in both occupational strata, although the AI-attitude–career-engagement association was stronger among nurses/midwives. Conclusions: More favorable attitudes toward AI were associated with greater career engagement and intrinsic motivation. Career engagement explained a meaningful, although not dominant, proportion of this association. Because the data were cross-sectional and self-reported, the findings should be interpreted as associative rather than causal. Supporting career engagement may be a plausible target for future intervention research aimed at facilitating healthcare workers’ adaptation to AI-enabled environments, although adaptation itself was not directly assessed in this study. Full article

Background: Favorable attitudes toward human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination do not necessarily translate into vaccine uptake, particularly among young adults who were too old to benefit from recently expanded adolescent programs. We assessed the gap between attitudes and self-reported HPV vaccination and examined sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates of uptake in a non-probability sample of young adults residing in Poland. Methods: An anonymous cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 12 January 2025 to 14 August 2026. The analysis included 334 complete responses from adults aged 18–45 years recruited through social media. The 42-item questionnaire assessed sociodemographic characteristics, HPV knowledge, vaccine trust, perceived personal threat, social exposure to vaccinated persons, access, and barriers. Group differences were examined using Pearson chi-square tests. Multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for self-reported vaccination; two respondents reporting sex as other/prefer not to say were excluded from the sex-adjusted model (N=332). Results: Overall, 113/334 participants (33.8%) reported HPV vaccination, whereas 300/334 (89.8%) considered vaccination important. Among unvaccinated respondents, the most frequent barriers were lack of a clinician recommendation (83/221; 37.6%) and cost (75/221; 33.9%). In the adjusted model, vaccination was associated with female sex (aOR 2.49, 95% CI 1.10–5.65), greater vaccine trust (aOR 1.70 per scale point, 95% CI 1.17–2.45), and knowing a vaccinated person (aOR 7.73, 95% CI 4.02–14.86). Compared with participants aged <20 years, those aged 23–25 years (aOR 0.33, 95% CI 0.12–0.86) and >25 years (aOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09–0.86) had lower odds of vaccination. Objective HPV knowledge, education, urban residence, region, and medical/health-related study or work were not independently associated with uptake in this exploratory model. Model AUC was 0.846. Conclusions: In this non-probability sample, the gap between endorsing HPV vaccination as important and self-reported uptake was substantial; this construct should not be interpreted as an intention–behavior gap. Vaccine confidence and reported social exposure showed stronger cross-sectional associations with HPV vaccination than the exploratory objective-knowledge score, while lack of clinician recommendation and cost remained prominent barriers. These findings support evaluation of catch-up strategies that combine clear clinician recommendation, affordable and convenient access, gender-neutral cancer-prevention communication, and social normalization of vaccination. Full article

Background: Healthcare workers are central to the care of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), yet their own stigmatizing attitudes can undermine it. This cross-sectional study assessed HIV/AIDS knowledge and stigmatizing attitudes toward PLHIV among healthcare workers and the factors associated with stigma. Methods: All physicians and nurses employed at three public hospitals in Mersin, Turkey (N = 2230), were invited to participate; because participation was voluntary and anonymous, the analysed sample was self-selected and is best characterised as a convenience sample. Data were collected over 45 days using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire hosted on an online survey platform, comprising a 10-item HIV/AIDS knowledge questionnaire adapted from a previously used instrument and the Health Care Provider HIV/AIDS Stigma Scale (HPASS; Turkish version), which measures stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice. Associations were examined using group comparisons, correlations, and multivariable linear regression. Results: Among 460 participants (median age 35.0 years, IQR 31.0–44.0; 63.5% female; response rate 21.7%), knowledge assessment scores were not associated with any stigma subdimension; instead, older age, being married, and greater professional experience were associated with higher stereotyping and discrimination, with age and experience remaining significant after multivariable adjustment (p < 0.05). Notably, 81.1% felt they would need to inform other staff when encountering a PLHIV, which may raise confidentiality concerns; 67.4% believed HIV is mostly acquired through risky behaviours, and only 69.1% were comfortable working with an HIV-positive colleague. Conclusions: Stigmatizing attitudes were common and were associated with age and professional experience rather than with knowledge assessment scores. These findings generate the hypothesis that interventions addressing the attitudinal and professional-culture dimensions of stigma—particularly among more senior staff—may be more effective than information provision alone. Because the design was cross-sectional and the knowledge questionnaire had limited validity evidence, longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to test this hypothesis. Full article

Insurance inclusion remains low across emerging markets; Uzbekistan, with penetration below 1% of GDP, is one example. The main goal of this study is to identify the behavioural determinants of insurance inclusion by testing an integrated moderated-mediation model, grounded in the Theory of Reasoned Action and the attitude–intention–behaviour logic of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, in which financial and insurance literacy operate through trust, perceived benefit, and attitude, with perceived risk and digital literacy as boundary conditions. Survey data from 353 respondents in Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya region were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Insurance literacy strongly shaped trust in insurers and perceived benefit, whereas general financial literacy exerted only a weak indirect influence; these beliefs formed favourable attitudes associated with purchase intention and, ultimately, with self-reported insurance inclusion. All direct and mediating paths were supported, and the model explained 59% of the variance in inclusion. Perceived risk played a dual role, directly motivating purchase intention while weakening the attitude–intention link; digital literacy did not moderate the intention–inclusion relationship. Multi-group analysis showed the model largely invariant across demographic subgroups. Insurance literacy and the beliefs it fosters emerge as the strongest behavioural correlates of insurance inclusion in this regional setting. Full article

Background/Objectives: Healthcare systems are increasingly recognized as contributors to climate change, and intensive care units represent particularly resource-intensive clinical environments. Nurses play a central role in shaping daily care practices that may influence the environmental footprint of critical care. However, limited quantitative evidence is available on intensive care nurses’ knowledge, behaviors, and perceived barriers regarding environmental sustainability. This study aimed to assess knowledge, sustainability-related behaviors, and perceived barriers among Italian intensive care unit nurses using the preliminary version of the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Questionnaire on Environmental Sustainability in Intensive Care Units (KABQES-ICU). Despite the instrument’s name, attitudes were not operationalized as a separate scored domain in the preliminary version used in this study and were therefore not analyzed as an independent construct. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey using self-selected convenience sampling was conducted between November 2024 and July 2025. Participants were Italian registered nurses or nurse coordinators working in intensive care settings with at least one year of critical care experience. The survey was distributed through the official website of the Italian National Association of Critical Care Nurses. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and group comparisons were performed on a final analytical sample of 278 participants. Results: Participants reported high levels of climate change knowledge, while sustainability-related behaviors were moderate, particularly in workplace settings. Perceived workload, time pressure, and organizational barriers were moderate to high, reflecting substantial perceived obstacles to the implementation of sustainable practices in everyday intensive care. Relatively small proportions of participants reported awareness of specific organizational sustainability initiatives, particularly carbon-emissions reporting, structured emission-reduction plans, staff training, and sustainable procurement strategies. Knowledge was positively but weakly associated with home- and work-based sustainability behaviors, with these associations showing small effect sizes. Sustainability-related scores were only weakly associated with sociodemographic and professional characteristics. Conclusions: Italian intensive care nurses reported high climate change knowledge scores alongside only moderate levels of workplace sustainability behaviors. The modest unadjusted associations indicate that climate change knowledge was only weakly related to reported workplace sustainability behaviors. These exploratory findings should not be interpreted as evidence of independent predictors or of the relative contribution of individual and organizational factors. Full article

Sustainable finance is expected to mobilize private capital toward the Sustainable Development Goals, yet retail investors may not convert favorable environmental attitudes into sustainable portfolio choices. This study examines adult respondents’ preferences for investment funds linked to Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land), focusing on environmental values, the perceived credibility of sustainable funds, perceived individual impact, expected return, and risk. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered to adults and included eight hypothetical investment-choice scenarios. The final analytical sample comprised 105 respondents. Spearman correlations, robust ordinary least squares models, and clustered logistic comparisons were used. Environmental values, credibility, and perceived impact were positively interrelated, but none significantly predicted the number of SDG 15-linked choices, either directly or through moderation. Respondents selected sustainable alternatives in 4.33 of eight scenarios on average (54.17%). Sustainable-choice frequencies differed substantially across the presented scenario groups: 67.62% when the SDG 15-linked alternative offered higher return and lower risk, 46.03% under lower return and lower risk, and 39.05% under higher return and higher risk. Because return and risk varied simultaneously across fixed scenarios, these differences should not be interpreted as separate attribute effects. The findings reveal a descriptive attitude–behavior gap and are consistent with a three-dimensional view of investment choice in which sustainability is considered alongside return and risk. However, because these attributes were not independently varied, their separate contributions cannot be identified. Fund managers and regulators should combine verifiable biodiversity outcomes with transparent, financially competitive products. Full article

Research in many parts of the world reports cases of sexual harassment and abuse in schools. However, the concept of sexual abuse and harassment can be contested based on various factors. Unfortunately, when such violence occurs, it may affect pedagogical practices and learner performance, hence the need for contextual research to determine such a relationship. To address this need, this study examined primary school learners’ perceptions of sexual harassment and abuse in two primary schools in Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria, and analysed the effects of the violence on these learners’ attitudes toward sex education. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, the study implements a survey design involving 130 learners (aged 9–12) from two primary schools. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire (SVAQ), adapted from the Child Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (CSAQ). The analysis involved descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results reveal a low level of sexual abuse and harassment; however, significant percentages of learners reported exposure to inappropriate behaviours: 14.6% experienced unwanted physical contact, 15.4% received requests to disclose private body parts, and 19.2% acknowledged having received sexually arousing touch by adults. Female learners were identified as more vulnerable, with a prevalence of 78.5%. Respondents demonstrated strong support for sex education, with 85.3% advocating for its inclusion in school curricula and 77.7% recognising its significance in preventing teenage pregnancies and STDs. Regression analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between experiences of sexual harassment and favourable attitudes towards sex education (B = 0.196, p < 0.001), suggesting that affected individuals view it as a protective measure. Recommendations highlight the importance of thorough, age-suitable sex education initiatives, improved teacher training, and community-focused approaches to create safer school settings, and the critical need to incorporate sex education into primary school curricula to address vulnerabilities, empower learners, and break the cycles of abuse (whether sexual or otherwise). Full article

Pesticide contamination in fruits and vegetables remains a critical food safety concern in Northern Thailand, posing risks to environmental and human health. Improving knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) in food safety is essential for reducing pesticide exposure, particularly among migrant workers. This cross-sectional study evaluates food safety knowledge, attitude, behavior, and pesticide exposure among Myanmar migrant workers in Chiang Mai Province. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 137 participants between August and September 2025 in Mueang, Mae Rim, and San Sai districts. Mann–Whitney U test and linear regression were used to explore demographic differences and associated factors of knowledge, attitude, and safety behavior. Most participants demonstrated adequate knowledge (65.7%) and positive attitude (80.3); however, 78.1% reported only moderate safety behavior. Higher knowledge and more favorable attitudes were observed among non-Shan ethnic groups and participants with higher education (p < 0.001). Women and non-farming workers exhibited significantly safer behavior (p < 0.05). Knowledge and attitude were strongly correlated (ρ = 0.556, p < 0.01), but neither was associated with safety behavior. Most participants had cholinesterase activity within the normal reference range (73.0% cellular AChE; 81.0% plasma BChE). Low enzyme activity was observed in 13.9% and 6.6% of participants, respectively. Enzyme activity did not differ significantly by occupation, sex, or ethnicity and was not significantly associated with KAB scores. Linear regression analyses identified ethnicity as significantly associated with knowledge and attitude; whereas, sex and occupation were significantly associated with safety behavior. These findings suggest that individual-level knowledge and attitude may not be sufficient to drive protective behavior among migrant workers, though the cross-sectional study design limits causal inference and generalizability. Full article

This study aims to evaluate young people’s perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors regarding food waste in the North-West region of Romania. It seeks to identify key factors influencing awareness and practices, quantify the attitude–behavior gap, and propose targeted educational and policy interventions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between July and October 2024 using a 17-item questionnaire. Snowball sampling via social media and educational networks yielded 955 valid responses from participants aged 14–33 across six counties. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests with Dunn’s post hoc comparisons, Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses, and effect size calculations were performed, guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. Respondents showed high knowledge (89.47% aggregated positive responses) and strongly positive attitudes (>90% on all items). However, a significant attitude–behavior gap emerged: while 93.51% intended to reduce food waste, only 50.05% consistently adapted portions to appetite. Family was the primary source of awareness (42.41%), whereas formal schooling contributed minimally (3.35%), despite 92.46% supporting school-based education. Knowledge correlated strongly with attitudes (r = 0.624) but only moderately with practice (r = 0.326). Results highlight the need to integrate food waste education into formal curricula and develop targeted programs bridging the gap between positive attitudes and actual behavior change among Romanian youth. Full article

Traditional male circumcision (TMC) is viewed as a rite of passage from childhood to manhood. In the Atoni Meto tribe in Indonesia, this practice requires initiates to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse with unrelated women following circumcision, thereby exposing both men and women to the risk of HIV transmission. However, there is a lack of validated questionnaires in Indonesia to measure knowledge and attitudes towards TMC and the associated risk of HIV transmission. This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire aimed at measuring the knowledge and attitudes of men aged 18 to 49 years in West Timor, Indonesia, regarding TMC and the risk of HIV transmission linked to the practice and subsequent sexual intercourse. A series of validations was conducted, including content validity, face validity, test-retest reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and inter-item correlation. The EFA was conducted with 140 participants. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test for the knowledge factor was 0.759, and the attitudes factor was 0.797, with Bartlett’s test of sphericity p-value < 0.001 indicating that the data were suitable to proceed with further factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha values for knowledge and attitudes were 0.861 and 0.824, respectively, suggesting good internal consistency. The questionnaire provides preliminary evidence of its validity and reliability in assessing Indonesian men’s knowledge and attitudes on TMC and HIV transmission. Full article

The successful deployment of shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) technologies is of great significance for improving road traffic safety and road capacity. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of SAV technologies is hindered by ambiguous user acceptance intentions and complicated multi-stakeholder decision-making processes. Existing studies mostly conduct static analyses of user willingness with fragmented variable selection, lacking integrated frameworks that integrate public opinion mining, behavioral modeling, and evolutionary game theory. Different from existing studies that predominantly rely on static questionnaire-based willingness analysis with subjectively selected variables, this study integrates social-media text mining, an extended Theory of Planned Behavior, and a tripartite evolutionary game model to jointly investigate user psychological mechanisms and multi-stakeholder dynamic interactions. To explore the long-term development trajectory of SAVs, this study crawls 23,943 short-video comment datasets. The Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model is adopted to preliminarily identify eight core factors affecting users’ adoption of SAVs, based on which a questionnaire survey on SAV adoption intention is designed. A total of 724 valid questionnaires were collected. Expanding the classic Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study incorporates additional latent variables including perceived risk, employment impacts, and government attitudes to construct an extended TPB model, which quantifies the correlations between latent constructs and adoption intention. The empirical results reveal that government attitudes (β = 0.497, p < 0.001) and employment conditions (β = 0.434, p < 0.001) exert significantly positive effects on perceived risk. Perceived ease of use indirectly determines adoption intention through three mediating paths: attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, stakeholders are categorized into three groups (users, enterprises, and governments), and a tripartite evolutionary game model for SAV stakeholders is established to derive evolutionary stable strategies (ESS) via numerical simulation. The simulation results indicate that the strategy combination of economic incentives and small-scale pilot programs (adopted by governments) paired with the adoption strategy (adopted by potential SAV users) constitutes the evolutionary stable strategy. Variations in governments’ economic incentive costs and small-scale pilot operation costs significantly alter the decision-making behaviors of potential SAV users. This study integrates behavioral modeling and game-theoretic analysis. It delivers theoretical foundations for research on SAV adoption behaviors and provides quantitative decision-making evidence for governments to formulate phased incentive policies and for service platforms to control pilot operation costs. Full article

Job satisfaction has become a significant factor in organizational performance, particularly in operational sectors such as port activities, where efficiency, coordination, and safety are essential. Port operations provide a theoretically relevant setting because technical work is safety-sensitive, operationally interdependent, and strongly dependent on coordination, communication, and compliance with procedures. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between job satisfaction and perceived productivity among technical workers at port companies in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from a social sustainability and Happiness Management perspective. A mixed-methods approach with a convergent design was employed, integrating ordinal data obtained through an online survey with qualitative data from virtual semi-structured interviews. The survey, based on a 7-point Likert scale, was administered online to 54 port technicians, while the qualitative component consisted of virtual semi-structured interviews with five industry experts. Descriptive statistics, preliminary construct validity assessment, sensitivity analysis, power analysis, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were used to analyze the ordinal data, while the qualitative information was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that 59.3% of participants were classified in the high job satisfaction category and 85.2% in the high revised perceived productivity category, according to predefined Likert-scale classification criteria. Furthermore, a strong, statistically significant positive association was identified between job satisfaction and the revised perceived productivity score, excluding the item that directly embedded the satisfaction–performance relationship ($\rho$ = 0.781, $p<0.001$, $N=54$; 95% bootstrap CI = [0.633–0.881]). A stricter sensitivity analysis excluding both Items 22 and 23 also showed a strong association ($\rho$ = 0.789, $p<0.001$). Qualitative results provided contextual insights into how experts perceived satisfaction-related dimensions, such as recognition, organizational climate, communication, coordination, and labor well-being, as being associated with perceived productivity in port operations. The study concludes that higher job satisfaction composite average scores are significantly associated with higher revised perceived productivity composite average scores, although the cross-sectional design does not allow causal conclusions. The findings contribute to the social sustainability and Happiness Management literature by showing how job satisfaction, recognition, motivation, organizational climate, and labor well-being are associated with perceived productivity in a highly demanding port context. Rather than treating job satisfaction only as an isolated employee attitude, the study interprets it as a workplace well-being dimension connected with Happiness Management and sustainable port operations. Full article

Background/Objectives: Dentists are uniquely positioned to detect child abuse and neglect (CAN), including dental neglect, yet reporting rates remain low and Bulgarian data are scarce. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported intention to report CAN, including dental neglect, among clinical dental students in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and their views on further education. We additionally tested whether recognition and attitudes differed by sex, stage of training, and prior CAN education, and identified independent correlates of the intention to report. Methods: A single-centre, analytical cross-sectional survey (Microsoft Forms) was conducted among 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-year (intern) dental students at the Medical University of Plovdiv (March–May 2025). The 17-item questionnaire covered demographics, knowledge, attitudes, the perceived role of the dentist, and interest in further training. An indicator-recognition score (0–24) was derived from four “select-all-that-apply” items. Group differences were examined with Mann–Whitney U and χ²/Fisher tests; independent correlates were identified with a general linear model (recognition score) and binary logistic regression (reporting intention; dentist’s role), with effect sizes reported. Results: Of 200 invited students, 115 responded (57.5%; 74 female, 41 male). Physical abuse was recognised by all participants (100%) but neglect by only ~75%. Female students scored higher than males (adjusted means 19.97 vs. 18.08; p = 0.005; partial η² = 0.07), with no difference by year of study. Overall recognition scores were similar in students with and without prior CAN education (p = 0.713), but trained students more often endorsed the dentist’s safeguarding role (88.3% vs. 57.9%; p = 0.001) and intended to report suspected cases (66.2% vs. 39.5%; p = 0.011). In multivariable models, prior education (adjusted OR 3.31) and the recognition score (adjusted OR 1.32 per point) were each independently associated with the intention to report (both p ≤ 0.012). Over half (51%) considered their training insufficient and 94.8% wanted further education, preferring case-based seminars (71.3%). Conclusions: A clear gap exists between awareness of CAN and readiness to act; prior education related to readiness to act rather than to broader recognition. Structured, practice-oriented training with clear local reporting pathways and interprofessional learning is needed. Full article