The biggest fear of American parents is that their children will have a mental health problem.

In the PEW Research Center survey of children under 18, 4 in 10 parents (40 percent) feared their child might have a mental health problem based on anxiety or depression, and 62 percent said it was harder than they expected. dad. .

While 35 percent of those surveyed said they were “extremely” or “very concerned” about their children being bullied at some point in their lives, this rate was found to be 40 percent for women and 28 percent for men.

Beyond mental health and bullying, parental concerns were followed by physical threats, drugs, alcohol, teen pregnancy, and trouble with the police.

41 percent of the participants said that being a parent is exhausting, 29 percent always or most of the time stressful, and only 30 percent said they place great importance on adopting their children.

Families concerned about their children said they tend to be overprotective by 45 percent, while a minority of 20 percent said they prefer to give their children too much freedom.

PARENTS ARE OPEN TO CHANGE

The responses given by families who complained about the difficulty of raising a child to the survey questions revealed an open attitude to change regarding the raising of their children and their future preferences.

While the percentage of families trying to raise their children the way they were raised remained at 43 percent, 44 percent of the participants said they tried to raise their children in a different way, while a minority of 12 percent He stated that they did not choose either way.

Among the ethnic group trying to raise their children like them, whites had the highest rate at 49 percent, while the survey showed 42 percent of black citizens, 37 percent of Asian Americans and 32 percent of Latin Americans were concerned about the issue.

Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of parents said they care a great deal about their children growing up to be honest and moral adults, 48 ​​percent to be hardworking, 40 percent to help, and 4 in 10 to be respectful. with those who are different from them.

On the other hand, it was shared that parents care that their children grow up with religious beliefs similar to theirs, and that they care about sharing the same political vision with 16 percent.

When racial and sectarian differences were taken into account, the belief similarity rate was 40 percent for blacks, 39 percent for Latinos, 32 percent for whites and Asians, 70 percent for white evangelical Protestants and 35 percent for Catholics. (AA)