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The Effects of Helicopter Parenting on Academic Motivation

Journal of Child and Family Studies volume 26, pages 1472–1480 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

There is a growing concern that overinvolved, helicopter parenting may have negative consequences for college students’ well-being and academic achievement. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of helicopter parenting on constructs related to academic achievement and success such as motivation for learning, perfectionism, and entitlement. Survey data are presented from 192 college students and their mothers (N = 121). Children’s report of maternal helicopter parenting was related to extrinsic motivation to learn, perfectionistic discrepancy, and avoidance goals for learning, which have been associated with lower academic performance in prior research. Mother’s report of helicopter parenting was related to children’s sense of entitlement. This study suggests that helicopter parenting is related to maladaptive academic motivations that may have negative implications for academic achievement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Science, University of Mary Washington, 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg, VA, 22401, USA

    Holly H. Schiffrin & Miriam Liss

Authors
  1. Holly H. Schiffrin
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  2. Miriam Liss
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Correspondence to Holly H. Schiffrin.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the university where it was conducted, which has Federal-wide Assurance from the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP). Thus, all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. No identifying information was obtained during data collection.

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Schiffrin, H.H., Liss, M. The Effects of Helicopter Parenting on Academic Motivation. J Child Fam Stud 26, 1472–1480 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0658-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0658-z

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