The parenting style known as “helicopter parents” used to be all the rage, but science has shown that it actually has detrimental side effects. Researchers from the University of Wollongong in Australia recruited participants between the ages of 17 to 25 years old and asked them about their childhoods. The team also questioned the young adults if they have ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition like anxiety or depression. The results of the study were posted to the journal Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotional Dysregulation.
The team found that participants who had grown up with helicopter parents often had a higher chance of showing narcissistic traits such as acting entitled, having unrealistic self-views and issues being autonomous. This isn’t the only scientific evidence showing that helicopter parenting can actually be quite damaging to a child.
A team of researchers from the Edith Cowan University’s School of Medical and Health looked into whether or not using a different parenting approach might help decrease stress in new parents and keep them from hovering around their child. The particular parenting style used in the study is called the Respectful Approach intervention, and it teaches parents to give their children space to play and make mistakes on their own.
The researchers found several parents that were interested in participating in the study. The control group was allowed to hover and interrupt while their children played in a group. The remaining participants were enrolled into a Respectful Approach class for six weeks. One of the researchers is an early childhood educator named Mandy Richardson and she revealed that the results showed parents were less likely to stress out if they used the Respectful Approach method.
“Participants in the study reported worrying less about performance pressure after attending the classes, which let them refocus on their relationship with their children,” Richardson told The News Daily. “As parents, we tend to go and ‘save’ our children when they start to struggle with something, instead of letting them try to resolve their own challenges. But if the children aren’t looking for help, perhaps they can be left to do their own thing and work it out themselves.”
She also pointed out that the participants in the Respectful Approach classes struggled during the first session to not step in and help their child. However, over the next few weeks, they became way more comfortable with just sitting back and letting their child work things out on their own.
“Many reported their perceptions about their child’s abilities and their parent role shifted, which helped them to allow more freedom outside the classes,” Richardson added. “One parent said they used to feel the need to fix any emotion their child had immediately and the classes helped them to see their child’s emotions as a healthy part of their development.” The results of the study were recently published in Journal of Child and Family Studies. The team also revealed that they hope to keep tracking the participants in the pilot study over the next three years to see if a decline in parental stress levels has an effect on the children's behavior and development.
Sources: The News Daily, Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation