Helicopter Parenting and Emotion Regulation in U.S. College Students

Abstract

H elicopter parenting refers to a distinct form of parental control (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012) best characterized by a tendency to hover over one’s child(ren), resolve potential problems for them, and rescue them from difficulties and challenges in a developmentally inappropriate way (Cline & Fay, 1990). Helicopter parents generally have benevolent intentions. As such, they have a parenting style that is typically (but not always) high on warmth and support but which is also universally high on control (Nelson, PadillaWalker, & Nielson, 2015) and low on granting autonomy (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). In other words, helicopter parents not only hover but also do not support (or even actively discourage) autonomous behaviors in their offspring. Vinson (2013) argued that American ideas about what constitutes “good parenting” might have shifted in recent decades such that hovering and discouraging autonomy are now the accepted norms, and parents who resist this trend are sometimes judged negatively by other parents. Indeed, helicopter parenting behaviors have increased in the United States in recent years due to a variety of factors including increased safety concerns, ubiquitous technology permitting constant contact with one’s children, greater economic insecurity, and rising costs of college tuition (Vinson, 2013). Although some have argued that helicopter parenting can begin during pregnancy and continue through graduate school and beyond (Vinson, 2013), academic research on the prevalence and ABSTRACT. Most research has suggested that helicopter parenting is associated with negative outcomes. Few studies have explored underlying mechanisms. The present study examined the mediating role of emotional processing. Participants (n = 104 U.S. college students) completed measures of helicopter parenting behaviors, emotional processing, depression, and anxiety. Relationships between helicopter parenting and depression (95% BCa CI = .01 to .33; R2 = .23, f2 = .30) and helicopter parenting and anxiety (95% BCa CI = .01 to .13; R2 = .14, f2 = .17) were mediated by experiential avoidance. The relationship between autonomy support and depression was mediated by expressive suppression (95% BCa CI = -.27 to -.01; R2 = .08, f2 = .08), cognitive reappraisal (95% BCa CI = -.36 to -.03; R2 = .09, f2 = .10), psychological flexibility (95% BCa CI = -.59 to -.04; R2 = .46, f2 = .86), and experiential avoidance (95% BCa CI = -.39 to -.03; R2 = .24, f2 = .31). The relationship between autonomy support and anxiety was mediated by cognitive reappraisal (95% BCa CI = -.17 to -.02; R2 = .09, f2 = .10), psychological flexibility (95% BCa CI = -.28 to -.02; R2 = .49, f2 = .97), and experiential avoidance (95% BCa CI = -.16 to -.01; R2 = .14, f2 = .17). This was one of the first studies to identify mechanisms underlying links between helicopter parenting and negative outcomes. Results have implications for parent education and psychotherapy with college students.