Overprotective Parenting Increases Child's Anxiety

Too much involvement in a child's life during the early stages can negatively affect his/her healthy growth, researchers warn parents.

According to a team of researchers from the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University, helicopter parents or parents who have the tendency to over involve or overprotect their children are putting them at a higher risk of developing anxiety later in life.

For examining the negative impact of helicopter parenting on children, investigators followed nearly 200 children for many years.

The level of over involvement was decided with comparing the mother's views on such statements as: "I determine whom my child will play with" and "I dress my child even if he/she can do it alone."

Analyzing the participants at the age of three or four and later at nine,  lead researcher Professor Jennifer Hudson and colleagues noticed the children of mothers who over involved in their  children's affairs showcasing a high level of anxiety compared to others.

"Our overall findings show that preschool children are more likely to have a clinical anxiety diagnosis in middle childhood in the group of mothers who were over involved or too protective," Hudson said.

The risk of anxiety in children was found increasing when the mother herself carries the symptoms of anxiety disorder.

"We assessed the mothers for anxiety and depressive disorders and found in those who were anxious there was a marked increase in the risk of anxiety in their child," Hudson explained.

After reaching a conclusion, the investigators recommended parents to avoid helicopter parenting to prevent the children developing anxiety.

"It is increasingly recognized that preschool children can experience clinically significant anxiety. Now that we know which factors are likely to increase a child's chances of developing anxiety, we can intervene more effectively by targeting those variables that can reduce a child's risk," Hudson said.

This is not the first study to highlight the negative impact of over-parenting on parents and children. In July, a study published in Springer's Journal of Child and Family Studies found intensive parenting or mothers who want themselves to be the center of their baby's life and sacrifice their personal life for fulfilling the child's needs more likely to be unhappy and depressed.