Poster #155 - Predictors of Helicopter Parenting in Early Childhood

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Helicopter parenting refers to the tendency of some parents to be overprotective, overcontrolling, and overinvolved in their children’s activities, to the detriment of their children’s autonomy (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Research has displayed that helicopter parenting can negatively impact children’s well-being (e.g., Schiffrin, Liss, Miles-McLean, & Geary, 2014), yet less is known about the factors that predispose a parent to engage in helicopter parenting. The current study examined mothers’ age and attachment as predictors of helicopter parenting tendencies. Some previous research has shown that parents high in attachment anxiety and avoidance are more likely to limit their children’s exploration (Crowell & Feldman, 1988), one characteristic of helicopter parenting (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Other research has tended to find that older mothers are more likely to use positive parenting strategies than younger mothers (e.g., Barnes, Gardiner, Sutcliffe, Melhuish, 2014).
Eighty-three mothers (Mage=36) with a child between the ages of 54 and 63 months of age participated in the current study. Mothers completed the Experiences in Close-Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000) to assess their levels of anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationships (Cronbach’s αs=.90). A helicopter parenting scale was created based on previous scales (e.g., Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, Bauer, & Murphy, 2012) to apply to younger children, and the scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.79). This scale was also subjected to test-retest reliability on a separate sample of 36 mothers (Mage=41.83) with children ranging from 3-18 years and revealed a strong correspondence between responses two weeks apart (r=.89, p<.001).
Descriptive statistics and correlations can be found in Table 1. Helicopter parenting was associated with greater attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and younger maternal age. A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to test attachment anxiety and avoidance as predictors of helicopter parenting after controlling for maternal age. The full model was significant. Maternal age and attachment avoidance both significantly contributed to the model (t=-2.27, p=.027; t=2.20, p=.031; respectively), and attachment anxiety only marginally contributed (t=1.68, p=.098).
Overall, this study contributes to the emerging literature on helicopter parenting by first providing a new scale to assess helicopter parenting tendencies for those with young children. The study also pointed to two characteristics of helicopter mothers with young children: attachment insecurity and younger age. Older mothers might be more prepared for the demands of motherhood and able to provide a more stable environment (Hoffert, 1987). Thus, they may not feel as compelled to be overcontrolling as a response to parenting stress. Attachment anxiety was expected to predict helicopter parenting because such parents have previously been found to be more intrusive and overbearing in relationships and as parents (Collins & Read, 1990; Crowell & Feldman, 1988), however, avoidance was the more influential predictor after controlling for age. Avoidant individuals tend to be more closed off and avoid intimacy, yet they have also been found to be more controlling with their children (Crowell & Feldman, 1988). Thus, the current study extends these findings to helicopter parenting tendencies more generally, and points to attachment avoidance, over anxiety, as the more influential type of insecurity.

Authors

• Tia Murphy, Washington College
  Presenting Author

• Megan Rowan, Washington College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kayla Hamel, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Allison Halt, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author