Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Indulgent Parenting, Helicopter Parenting, and Well-being of Parents and Emerging Adults

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

Research on indulgent parenting in childhood and adolescence and its association with helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood and the well-being of parents and emerging adult children is limited. In this study, we examined (1) the association between indulgent parenting in childhood and adolescence and helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood, (2) the association between indulgent parenting and parents’ parenting stress and negative well-being, and (3) whether helicopter parenting mediated the association between indulgent parenting and emerging adults’ psychological problems.

Methods

The sample was composed of 449 college students with a subsample of 142 parent-student dyads.

Results

Results from analyses on parents (Part I, N = 142) and emerging adults (Part II, N = 449) suggested that (1) indulgent parenting in childhood and adolescence was associated with helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood (b = .69, p < .01 in Part I; b = .58, p < .01 in Part II), (2) there was a positive association between indulgent parenting and parents’ negative well-being (b = .26, p < .01 in Part I) and parenting stress (b = .29, p < .01 in Part I), and (3) helicopter parenting mediated the association between indulgent parenting and emerging adults’ depressive and anxiety symptoms and emotional dysregulation (.15, 95% CI .03 to .43 in Part II).

Conclusions

Implications for parenting and emerging adult health programs were discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ABC News (2007). Helicopter parents hover over kids’ lives. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=3699441&page=1.

  • ABC News (2009). “Helicopter moms:” Hurting or helping your kids? http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Parenting/story?id=8418453.

  • Abidin, R. R. (1992). The determinants of parenting behavior. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 407–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting stress index. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton-James, C. E., Kushlev, K., & Dunn, E. W. (2013). Parents reap what they sow: child-centrism and parental well-being. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 635–642.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bahr, S., & Hoffmann, J. (2010). Parenting style, religiosity, peers, and adolescent heavy drinking. Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 539–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1967). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43–88.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, J. K., Sanson, A. V., & Hemphill, S. A. (2006). Parent influences on early childhood internalizing difficulties. J Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 542–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology, 6, 893–897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley-Geist, J. C., & Olson-Buchanan, J. B. (2014). Helicopter parents: an examination of the correlates of over-parenting of college students. Education Training, 56, 314–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-10-2012-0096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bredehoft, D., & Walcheski, M. (2008). Overindulgence: parental overindulgence assessment scale (1.2). St. Paul, MN: Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Concordia University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X., Liu, M., & Li, D. (2000). Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: a longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 401–419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J. I., Dawson, C., & Bredehoft, D. (2014). How much is too much?. Boston: De Capo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coccia, C., & Darling, C. A. (2017). Indulgent parenting and life satisfaction of college students: examination of eating, weight, and body image. Journal of Family Issues, 38, 1191–1214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coccia, C., Darling, C. A., Rehm, M., Cui, M., & Sathe, S. K. (2012). Adolescent health, stress and life satisfaction: the paradox of indulgent parenting. Stress and Health, 28, 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1426.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crnic, K. A., & Low, C. (2002). Everyday stresses and parenting. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 5. Practical issues in parenting. 2nd Ed (pp. 243–267). Mahwah, NJ: Earlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cui, M., Allen, J., Fincham, F.D., May, R.W., & Love, H. (2018). Helicopter parenting, self-regulatory processes, and alcohol use among female college students. Journal of Adult Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-018-9301-5.

  • Cui, M., Darling, C. A., Lucier-Greer, M., Fincham, F. D., & May, R. W. (2018). Parental indulgence: profiles and effects on young adults’ emotional and behavioral problems. J Child Fam Stud 27, 2456–2466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1076-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui, M., Graber, J., Metz, A., & Darling, C. (2016). Parental indulgence, self-regulation, and young adults’ behavioral and emotional problems. Journal of Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2016.1237884

  • Darling, C. A., Rehm, M., Coccia, C., & Cui, M. (2015). Adolescent eating behavior: the role of indulgent parenting. Families in Society, 96, 257–267. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.2015.96.37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dearing, E., & Hamilton, L. C. (2006). Contemporary advances and classic advice for analyzing mediating and moderating variables. Monographs of the Society Research in Child Development, 71, 88–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H., & Giele, J. Z. (Eds.) (2009). The craft of life course research. New York: Guilford Press.

  • Fletcher, A., Steinberg, L., & Sellers, E. (1999). Adolescents’ well-being as a function of perceived interparental consistency. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 599–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/353563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritz, M. S., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2007). Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychological Science, 18, 233–239.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gar, N. S., & Hudson, J. L. (2008). An examination of the interactions between mothers and children with anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1266–1274.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • García, F., & Gracia, E. (2014). The indulgent parenting style and developmental outcomes in South European and Latin American countries. In H. Selin (Ed.), Parenting across cultures (pp. 419–433). Netherlands: Springer.

  • Goodman, S. H., & Tully, E. (2008). Children of depressed mothers. Implications for the etiology, treatment, and prevention of depression in children and adolescents. In J. Z. Abela & B. L. Hankin (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp. 415–440). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindlon, D. (2001). Too much of a good thing. New York: Hyperion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R.B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford publications.

  • Kouros, C., Pruitt, M., Ekas, N., Kiriaki, R., & Sunderland, M. (2017). Helicopter parenting, autonomy support, and students’ mental health and well-being: the moderating role of sex and ethnicity. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 939–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavee, Y., Sharlin, S., & Katz, R. (1996). The effect of parenting stress on marital quality an integrated mother-father model. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociol Spectrum, 31, 399–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2011.574038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenhard, W., & Lenhard, A. (2014). Hypothesis tests for comparing correlations. Bibergau (Germany): Psychometrica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, F. O., Conger, R. D., Simon, R. L., Whitbeck, L. B., & Elder, Jr, G. H. (1991). Economic pressure and marital quality: An illustration of the method variance problem in the causal modeling of family processes. Jouranl of Marriage and Family, 53, 375–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, F. O., Melby, J. N., Conger, R. D., & Xu, X. (2007). The effects of context on the correspondence between observational ratings and questionnaire reports of hostile behavior: a multitrait, multimethod approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 498–509.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: parent-child interaction. In P. H. Mussen, E. M. Hetherington, (Eds.) Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development. 4th Edn. (pp. 1–101). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, L. J., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Nielson, M. G. (2015). Is hovering smothering or loving? An examination of parental warmth as a moderator of relations between helicopter parenting and emerging adults’ indices of adjustment. Emerging Adulthood, 3, 282–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, S. K., Kushlev, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The pains and pleasures of parenting: when, why, and how is parenthood associated with more or less well-being? Psychological Bulletin, 140, 846–895.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nomaguchi, K. (2012). Parenthood and psychological well-being: clarifying the role of child age and parent-child relationship quality. Social Sciences Research, 41, 489–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odenweller, K., Booth-Butterfield, M., & Weber, K. (2014). Investigating helicopter parenting, family environments, and relational outcomes for millennials. Communication Studies, 65, 407–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Nelson, L. J. (2012). Black hawk down?: establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1177–1190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehm, M., Darling, C., Coccia, C., & Cui, M. (2016). Parents’ perspectives on indulgence: Remembered experiences and meanings when they were adolescents and as current parents of adolescents. Journal of Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2015.1106335

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, J. L. (1997). Analysis of incomplete multivariate data. London: Chapman & Hall.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schiffrin, H. H., Liss, M., Miles-Mclean, H., Geary, K. A., Erchull, M. J., & Tashner, T. (2014). Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23, 548–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9716-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sears, R. R., Maccoby, E. E., & Levin, H. (1957). Patterns of child rearing. Evanston, IL: Row Peterson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A., & Murphy, M. T. (2012). The association between overparenting, parent-child communication, and entitlement and adaptive traits in adult children. Family Relations, 61, 237–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., & Montgomery, N. (2013). Parent and child traits associated with overparenting. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 32, 569–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G. (1995). Parenting styles and conceptions of parental authority during adolescence. Child Development, 66, 299–316.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Somers, P., & Settle, J. (2010). The helicopter parent: research toward a typology. College and University: The Journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars, 86, 18–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Ingen, D. J., Freiheit, S. R., Steinfeldt, J. A., Moore, L. L., Wimer, D. J., Knutt, A. D., & Roberts, A. (2015). Helicopter parenting: the effect of an overbearing caregiving style on peer attachment and self-efficacy. Journal of College Counseling, 18, 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2015.00065.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Victor, S. E., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). Validation of a brief version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS-18) in five samples. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38, 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The New York Times (2010). Raising successful children. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/raising-successful-children.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

  • Time (2009). The growing backlash against overparenting. http://web.uvic.ca/~gtreloar/Articles/Parenting/Helicopter%20Parents%20The%20Backlash%20Against%20Overparenting.pdf.

  • USA Today (2012). Self-sufficiency elusive to young adults of hovering parenting. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/bruzzese/story/2012-08-26/helicopter-parents-hurt-generation-of-workers/57292900/1.

Download references

Author Contributions

M.C.: designed and executed the study, performed data analyses, and wrote the paper. C.A.D.: collaborated with the design of the study and editing of the final manuscript. C.C.: assisted with manuscript editing. F.D.F.: assisted with manuscript editing. R.W.M.: assisted with data collection and editing of the final manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Council on Family Relations Innovation Grant Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Child Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

    Ming Cui & Carol A. Darling

  2. Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida International University, Miami, USA

    Catherine Coccia

  3. Family Institute, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

    Frank D. Fincham & Ross W. May

Authors
  1. Ming Cui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carol A. Darling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Catherine Coccia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Frank D. Fincham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ross W. May
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ming Cui.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Florida State University and Florida International University.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cui, M., Darling, C.A., Coccia, C. et al. Indulgent Parenting, Helicopter Parenting, and Well-being of Parents and Emerging Adults. J Child Fam Stud 28, 860–871 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-01314-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-01314-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation