Poster #52 - College-Related Well-Being in Emerging Adults: The Role of Helicopter Parenting and Entitlement

• In Event: Poster Session 08

Abstract

Introduction: During emerging adulthood, the dynamics of the parent-child relationship change such that parents need to support their child’s independence and autonomy (Padilla-Walker et al., 2019). Engaging in helicopter parenting, where parents excessively monitor their adult children, is associated with greater mental health problems for emerging adults (Schiffrin et al., 2014). Emerging adults who experience greater helicopter parenting also report higher levels of entitlement (Segrin et al., 2012). As emerging adults transition to attending college, perhaps living away from home for the first time, they may experience challenges that negatively impact their mental health. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on how helicopter parenting impacts well-being specifically related to students’ college experience. Thus, the overall goal of the current study was to examine associations between helicopter parenting and emerging adult’s college-related well-being. A second aim was to determine the extent to which psychological and academic entitlement (i.e., the belief that academic success is deserved and the avoidance of personal responsibility) mediated these associations.
Method: Participants included 657 undergraduate students at two private universities in the United States. Participants completed an online survey composed of several measures evaluating the participants’ parents’ helicopter parenting behaviors and the participants’ own academic entitlement, psychological entitlement, and college related well-being. Measures used in the current analyses included the Helicopter Parenting and Autonomy Supportive Behavior Scale (Schiffrin et al., 2014), the academic entitlement scale (Chowning & Campbell, 2009), the Psychological Entitlement Scale (Campbell et al., 2004), and the College Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (CSSWQ; Renshaw, 2016).
Results: Multiple mediation was used to investigate the extent to which academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities and entitled expectations -- and psychological entitlement mediated the association between helicopter parenting and well-being related to the college experience. Results revealed that helicopter parenting positively predicted each measure of entitlement, ps ≤ .001; but, only academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities significantly predicted college related well-being (b path), b = -5.82, SE = .71, p ≤ .001. The 95% confidence interval of the indirect effect using 5,000 bootstrap reiterations did not include zero [-1.25, -0.47], suggesting a significant indirect effect of helicopter parenting on college related well-being through academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities.
Discussion: Although helicopter parenting was associated with higher levels of each form of entitlement, only academic entitlement served as a mediator of the association between helicopter parenting and college related well-being. Students with higher levels of externalized responsibility generally avoid taking personal responsibility for their academic difficulties, instead blaming failures on others (e.g., their college professors). It is possible that these students were accustomed to having their parents manage academic tasks, particularly when they were living at home. However, now that they are living away from home and attending college, they feel entitled to expect similar treatment from their professors. These findings are important for college administrators and others working with college students to identify students who may be particularly vulnerable for struggling during the transition to college.

Authors

• Roxanne Lynne Odiorne, Texas Christian University
  Presenting Author

• Anastasiia Konstantinovna Pavlova, Texas Christian University

• Sarah Madison, Texas Christian University

• Chrystyna D Kouros, Southern Methodist University

• Naomi Ekas, Texas Christian University