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Abstract
In order to provide the best for their kids, parents make great efforts to build up a greenhouse for the "healthy" development of their offspring. Over-parenting and helicopter parenting are emerging parenting practices that intrude into family life. Over-protection, over-nurturance, over-involvement and "hovering" have become more and more popular in raising kids. This paper reviews the concepts related to "over-parenting" as well as its impacts on adolescent psychosocial development. The review shows that "over-parenting" and "helicopter parenting" adversely influence adolescents' psychosocial development. Conceptual gaps in the literature are identified, which include the muddiness of the concepts of "over-parenting," lack of a developmental perspective in the conceptualization, inattention to cultural and contextual diversity, and failure to explore the family dynamics and paternal roles in overprotected families. The methodological gaps of a lack of longitudinal and qualitative studies in this area and problems of using a single informant perspective are highlighted. Finally, future directions on research and practice are suggested.
Keywords: Parenting, overprotection, adolescents, spoiled kids, helicopter parenting
Introduction
The unique characteristics of adolescents growing up in the new millennium have attracted the attention of generation theorists. Influenced by the impact of globalization and popularity of Internet use, adolescents are brought up in a relatively nurturing and fast-paced society (1, 2). Based on the life course perspectives, adolescents in the new millennium are well nurtured by the "Baby Boomers" generation (born in 1943-1961) and "Generation-X" generation (born from 1961-1980), who are highly involved in their children's lives through parenting, nurturance, support, and monitoring (3). Different terminologies such as "helicopter parenting" (4, 5), "monster parenting," "lawnmower parenting" (6), "Tiger mom and wolf dad" (7), and "Hyper-parenting" (8) have been used to describe the parents who "hover" over their children's lives. Over-parenting has become an emerging parenting style in global and local contexts, and it continuously attracts the attention of the mass media and the public. In Time magazine about "the growing backlash against over-parenting," Gibbs (9) warned of the impacts of over-parenting by stating that "the insanity crept on us slowly, we just wanted what was best for our kids we hovered over school, playground and practice field - 'helicopter parents,' teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions"...