SummaryIt has been suggested that screening for impairment in early childhood may cause anxiety to parents. Using self‐administered questionnaires, we studied the attitudes and concerns of parents of infants aged 6 months and 8–9 months. Parents were randomly allocated to one of two groups. One group completed the second questionnaire after the 8‐month assessment routinely performed by health visitors, and the other group completed the second questionnaire before the assessment. We showed changes in attitude and concerns over the 2–3 month period, but these were not related to the assessment. It appeared that particular concerns and anxieties were not resolved by a recent contact with a health visitor, although a high proportion of mothers stated that they found the assessment reassuring. There was some evidence of a lack of appreciation, both of the purpose of the tests and of the implication of test failure. Screening tests performed by health visitors at an age of 8 months do not appear to generate undue anxiety in parents. However, as many of the tests used are of doubtful validity, a review of the purpose and content of this early health visitor assessment is
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