Abstract

Aims: To establish the prevalence of behaviour problems and the level of interest in parenting programmes in a population sample of parents of children aged 2–8 years, and to assess to what extent they are associated with socioeconomic factors.

Methods: Postal survey of parents of children aged 2–8 years registered with three general practitioner surgeries; 70% response rate.

Results: One fifth of parents from this population sample were experiencing difficulties with their children’s behaviour. While behaviour problems were more prevalent in the manual social classes, “need” was high across all social groups. Just under a fifth of parents reported prior attendance at a parenting programme and 58% expressed interest in attending in the future. Interest in attending a parenting programme was not class related, but was predicted by the age of the eldest child and the existence of behaviour problems.

Conclusion: Behaviour problems are an important public health issue. Findings support the use of a non-selective approach to the provision of parenting programmes in the UK.