Families Expecting and Living with a Baby: a Perspective on Parental Worries

Abstract

The aim is to describe parents’ worries about their family’s life situation during pregnancy and when their children are very young. The aim is to form a better understanding of parental worries for being able to better help them in child and family services. Previous research indicates that parental worries and concerns are not always addressed. Data consisted of parents’ open answers (N = 98) to questionnaires carried out at two time points: during pregnancy and the early childhood of the family’s children. The data were analyzed by inductive content analysis. The results show that families had six different types of worries. The parents described worries concerning health, parental challenges, relationships, sufficiency of resources, standard of living, and difficulties in obtaining support. Challenges related to family life or parenthood could emerge suddenly or develop slowly and cumulate. Either kinds of challenges were often difficult to solve without outside assistance. Identifying and intervening in parental worries sufficiently early is crucial and effective. It is difficult for the professionals who work with families to form a comprehensive perception of children’s and family’s life situation without systematic evaluation and discussions on parental worries.

Known groups validity of the SPARK36: To guide nurse‐led consultations for the early detection of child developmental and parenting problems

“…Furthermore, parents' concerns can be used to accurately detect and address problems (Glascoe & Marks, 2011;Lepistö et al, 2022).…”

“…Subsequently, screening for early detection of developmental, behavioural and parenting problems is preferably carried out using a valid instrument (Bergman, 2004; Glascoe, 2005; Klein Velderman et al, 2007; van Stel et al, 2012; Vogels et al, 2003). Furthermore, parents' concerns can be used to accurately detect and address problems (Glascoe & Marks, 2011; Lepistö et al, 2022).…”

Families of four‐year‐old children experiencing violence: A national survey of parents and public health nurses on help and support

“…Research evidence suggests that good quality parenting in early childhood is associated with positive mental and physical health over the long term (Bachmann et al, 2021; Bethell et al, 2019). Especially, families with very young children have described a variety of worries concerning issues such as parental challenges, the relationship between the parents and difficulties in obtaining support (Lepistö et al, 2022). Thus, parental worries should be systematically investigated by developing interventions such as discussions as early as possible (Lepistö et al, 2022).…”

“…Especially, families with very young children have described a variety of worries concerning issues such as parental challenges, the relationship between the parents and difficulties in obtaining support (Lepistö et al, 2022). Thus, parental worries should be systematically investigated by developing interventions such as discussions as early as possible (Lepistö et al, 2022). Moreover, there is evidence that an instrument like BCAP (Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory) could serve as a valid tool to detect child abuse in the general population (Ellonen et al, 2019) although further analysis is also needed.…”

Combinations of Parent-Related Risk Factors Explaining Family Violence Toward Children and Spouse

“… Yang and Maguire-Jack (2018) concluded that beyond a certain number of risks (5 or more), families may not be able to cope adequately with the stress they are under, which increases the likelihood of CM. Therefore, enabling CM prevention requires simultaneously and systematically addressing a diverse set of risk factors, also including any worries expressed by parents rather than only focusing on a particular issue ( Lepistö et al, 2022 ). There is also a need for interventions that aim at helping parents, such as discussions ( Bekaert et al, 2021 ; Lepistö et al, 2022 ).…”