Educational identity and maternal helicopter parenting: Moderation by the perceptions of environmental threat

Yue Wang*, Skyler Thomas Hawk, Susan Branje

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This four-wave study examined longitudinal associations between maternal helicopter parenting and college students' educational identity processes over 1 year, as well as the moderating effects of mothers' perceived environmental threats (i.e., uncertainty and competition). Participants were 349 first-year university students (39.8% male, Mage = 18.20) and their mothers (Mage = 49.10) in Hong Kong. Latent class growth analysis identified two subgroups based on levels of mothers' threat perceptions (i.e., lower vs. higher). Multi-group random-intercept cross-lagged models found that, at the within-person level, students' reconsideration of educational commitments positively predicted helicopter parenting only for mothers with higher threat perceptions. These findings mainly support youth-driven effects on overbearing parenting behaviors. Mothers' threat perceptions might exacerbate these excessive responses to youth's academic turbulence.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1377-1390
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Research on Adolescence
Volume33
Issue number4
Early online date10 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (GRF CUHK 14620219) awarded to the second author.

FundersFunder number
Research Grants Council, University Grants CommitteeGRF CUHK 14620219

    Keywords

    • educational identity
    • environmental threat
    • helicopter parenting

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Educational identity and maternal helicopter parenting: Moderation by the perceptions of environmental threat'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this