More calls to mental health helplines

Statistics published by mental health charity Young Minds showed that, of the 2,863 calls to its parents information service in 2007/08, a total of 46 per cent were from parents worried about 12- to 16-year-olds.

Slightly more than a quarter of callers had concerns about six- to 11-year-olds.

A total of six per cent of callers were worried about children up to the age of five.

Almost a third of callers had concerns about a "serious mental health problem", involving suicidal thoughts or suicidal attempts.

According to the research, most callers wanted support relating to "behaviour management", such as tips on discipline and coping with disruptive or aggressive behaviour.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive at YoungMinds, said: "We hope that by providing early support on emotional difficulties, such as challenging behaviour and family breakdown, we can prevent serious mental health problems occurring.

"We also hope to encourage more fathers to get involved in the health and wellbeing of their children - the majority of helpline callers are mothers and we believe it is vital for fathers to play an active role too."