Parental concerns' prevalence and socio-demographic variables in general parenting.

The aim of this study was to evaluate parental concerns in general parenting. The participants were 3842 parents of children between 3 and 10 years old, attending public preschools and primary schools, from a stratified random sample of Portuguese parents. Parents completed a parental concerns' scale that comprises five subscales: family and school problems; eating, sleep and physical complaints; preparation; fears; and negative behaviours. The results reported that 93.4 per cent of parents expressed some concern about the issues presented in the scale. Comparative analysis reported significant differences between mothers and fathers; child's gender; child's schooling level; mothers' and fathers' level of education, age at childbirth, marital status, and employment status. These results may indicate that parental concerns are an expected aspect of parenting, and that they should be addressed in family practice. Moreover, the reported differences between groups pointed to the need to develop specific intervention strategies.