In the best interests of children? The paradox of intensive parenting and children’s health

The Impact of Helicopter Parenting on Emerging Adults in Higher Education: A Scoping Review of Psychological Adjustment in University Students

This scoping review explored the recent literature on the relationship between helicopter parenting and psychological adjustment among emerging adults in a university setting. A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO to identify all original peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2024 in English that examined the association between helicopter parenting and indices of psychological distress among college students. Twenty-three studies were included in this review. Most of the studies were cross-sectional and were conducted in the USA and China. Helicopter parenting was significantly associated with increased anxiety, depression, and stress among college students. Factors such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, and autonomy mediate this relationship. Most studies predominantly included female participants, highlighting the need to investigate further the role of gender differences in the impact of helicopter parenting on university students' well-being. These findings highlight the need for universities to develop targeted interventions and support systems that address the specific challenges faced by students who experience helicopter parenting. Parents should also be educated on the potential adverse effects of excessive control and involvement, and more balanced parenting approaches should be promoted to support university students' mental health and autonomy. Future research should embrace more diverse cultural contexts, analyze the impact of global crises and new technologies, and use longitudinal designs with gender-balanced samples for deeper insights.

A qualitative study into the perceptions and needs of fathers with a migration background on parenting regarding energy balance-related behaviors

BACKGROUND

Overweight among adolescents is worldwide still considered a serious public health problem. Although both parents influence children's energy balance-related behavior, most studies have predominantly focused on mothers and white populations. Therefore, in this study, we contribute to the research by exploring the perceptions and needs of Dutch fathers with a migration background on parenting, specifically regarding promoting healthy energy balance-related behaviors among their children, and what motivates fathers to participate in parenting programs focused on these behaviors.

METHODS

We used a qualitative research design. Informal conversations (n = 2), semi-structured interviews (n = 11) and one focus group (n = 13) were conducted with professionals specialized in intercultural pedagogy and fathers participating in a parenting program organized by these professionals. Interviews and focus group were audio-recorded and transcribed. Atlas.ti 8 was used for theme detection, categorization, and classification using inductive and deductive approaches. The data was analyzed using grounded theory analysis.

RESULTS

Fathers joined parenting programs to improve their parenting skills and knowledge and address health and socio-cultural challenges. Furthermore, intergenerational differences were evident: second-generation fathers were more proactive in tackling parenting challenges related to healthy lifestyles. Fathers highlighted challenges related to parenting in two cultures. Although participating in the parenting program facilitated fathers in adopting a healthier lifestyle for both themselves and their families, improving communication with family members, and experiencing changes regarding gender dynamics within their household, influencing their teenage children, to adopt healthier habits remained a challenge, especially in comparison to younger children.

CONCLUSIONS

A deeper understanding of the needs, perceptions, and experiences of migrant populations concerning parenting regarding the promotion of healthy energy balance-related behaviors among their children can lead to better-tailored health promotion programs that prioritize cultural and linguistic inclusivity.

A 'normal' life: a qualitative study exploring parents' experiences of everyday life with a child diagnosed with atopic dermatitis and atopic comorbidities

INTRODUCTION

Atopic dermatitis (AD) and related atopic diseases are among the chronic health conditions that are becoming more common in children. Children with AD may develop atopic comorbidities, which makes it more difficult to manage treatment and necessitates more precautions in the child's everyday life. The parents of chronically ill children play a key role as the children's primary carers. This article explores the experiences of parents with the everyday tasks related to their children's illnesses.

METHODS

Face-to-face interviews in the Capital Region of Denmark, with eleven families with children, aged between one and five years, with AD and at least one atopic comorbidity (food allergy, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis or asthma).

RESULTS

We argue that, aside from the immediate tasks directly linked to the child's treatments, there are numerous other types of tasks, both inside and outside the home, that emerge when a family adjusts to living with a child with AD and atopic comorbidities. We present three major strategies that parents use to protect their child: risk avoidance, pursuing a normal childhood, and good parenting. These strategies are closely related to the parents' wish to give their child as normal a childhood as possible.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings, we suggest that healthcare professionals, beside the medical examination and treatment, are sensitive and attentive towards the large amounts of invisible work that parents of children with AD and atopic comorbidities accomplish and maintain awareness that parents may downplay the workload. Knowing the patients as persons can help facilitate and strength a trusting relationship.

Commemorating the monkey bars, catalyst of debate at the intersection of human evolutionary biology and public health

Play is an essential part of childhood, and growing attention has focused on the potential health benefits of 'risky' or 'thrill-seeking' play. Such play behavior is readily observed on any playground, where it can sometimes lead to injuries--most often from fall impacts--that require medical attention. Monkey bars account for ~7% of childhood arm fractures in the USA, an alarming statistic that raises difficult questions over its costs and benefits. Many authors view monkey bars as a public health hazard, but it is plausible that our childhood impulse toward thrill-seeking play is a result of selective pressures throughout our primate evolutionary history. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests that the developmental benefits of thrill-seeking play extend into adulthood, outweighing the occasional costs of injury. Disparate and consequential, these dueling perspectives have fueled debate among health professionals and policymakers, but with little attention to the work of biological anthropologists. Here we call attention to the hominin fossil record and play behaviors of non-human primates, providing a novel perspective that bolsters arguments for the adaptive significance of thrill-seeking play. The moment for such a review is timely, for it commemorates the centennial anniversaries of two playground icons: the jungle gym and monkey bars.

'I don't want him to always be so far behind': Parental perceptions of child independence in the context of extreme prematurity; a qualitative study

This study addresses the paucity of research on parents of extremely preterm adolescents (born <27 weeks of gestation) and their experiences within the framework of parental determinism. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty-two mothers and one father. Data were analysed thematically, revealing three overarching themes and eight subthemes shaping parental accounts. These themes centred on parental ambitions for their children, their perceptions of their child's abilities, and the parenting behaviours employed to support parental aspirations. Parents' actions were influenced by their ambitions and the belief that they could impact their child's future independence. While some parents adopted 'trusting', non-intensive parenting behaviours, those anticipating challenges for their child's future independence resorted to intensive parenting practices. These findings align with the concept of parental determinism, emphasising the perceived causal link between present parental actions and future child outcomes. In the context of extreme prematurity, a nuanced understanding of parental perceptions regarding their child's future independence aligned with a delicate balance between hope and realistic aspiration is crucial for enhancing parental support and well-being.

The intensification of parenting and generational fracturing of spontaneous physical activity from childhood play in the United Kingdom

Despite an increased drive over the past two decades in Western societies to promote children's physically active play to improve their health, there are concerns that childhood has become less physically active. There are also fears that a previously naturally occurring aspect of childhood has become less authentically playful. Both trends highlight changes over time in the amount and type of play practiced by children and are often cited as consequences of generational shifts. Yet, research which analytically employs the concept of generation to connect changes to childhood with relevant social transformations is lacking. Inspired by Mannheim's conceptualisation of generations, this paper draws on life history interviews with 28 United Kingdom residents born between 1950 and 1994 to propose a fracturing of naturally occurring physical activity from childhood play. As shifts in childhood and parenting have become inextricably linked, this argument illustrates the impact of an intensification to parenting upon greater parental surveillance of increasingly organised forms of childhood physical activity at the expense of spontaneous play. Future physical activity policy should be sensitive to the social climate in which recommendations for children are made, as this places expectations upon parents due to how childhood is currently understood within neoliberal contexts.

Child self-care autonomy in health (scale for parents): development, internal structure, and sex/age correlates

Autonomy in self-care practices in the health sphere is a critical characteristic for the survival of humans throughout the life span. Notably, however, the current literature lacks psychometrically sound instruments that measure this phenomenon among children without diagnosed chronic health conditions. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to develop, test, and provide data regarding the reliability and validity of the Child Self-Care Autonomy in Health (CSAH) scale. The piloted version of the CSAH yielded an 11-item instrument designed to reflect the parent's perspective in measuring the extent of autonomy in self-care actions related to health for a child, whether diagnosed with a chronic illness or not. Data were collected through an online survey of a non-random sample of Russian-speaking parents currently residing in Russia (N = 349). The analysis focused on scale structure via principal component analysis and age/sex associations. The proposed CSAH may be of interest to social workers, health professionals, and parents seeking to ascertain schoolers' autonomy in self-care practices in the health sphere and support building a stronger self-care mindset.

Parental Autonomy Support in the Context of Parent-Child Negotiation for Children's Independent Mobility: 'I Always Feel Safer With My Parents' to 'Boom! Bust Down Those Walls!'

Autonomy - acting volitionally with a sense of choice - is a crucial right for children. Given parents' pivotal position in their child's autonomy development, we examined how parental autonomy support and children's need for autonomy were negotiated and manifested in the context of children's independent mobility - children's ability to play, walk or cycle unsupervised. We interviewed 105 Canadian children between 10 and 13-years-old and their parents (n = 135) to examine child-parents' negotiation patterns as to children's independent mobility. Four patterns emerged, varying on parental autonomy support and children's need/motivation for independent mobility: (1) child/parent dyad wants to increase independent mobility; (2) child only wants to increase independent mobility while parents do not; (3) child does not want to increase independent mobility while parents do; and (4) child/parent dyad does not want to increase independent mobility. Findings illuminate the importance of recognizing children as active and capable agents of change.

Subjective Well-Being and Parenthood in Chile

Being a parent plays an important role in people's life trajectory and identity. Though the general cultural perception is that having children is a source of subjective well-being, there is evidence that, at least in some societies, the subjective well-being of those who are parents is worse, in some aspects, than that of those who are not. This gap has been the object of interest and controversy. The aim of this study was to compare Chilean adults with and without children in a broad set of well-being indicators, controlling for other sociodemographic variables. A public national probabilistic database was used. The results show that, in terms of positive and negative affect, those who are not parents achieve greater well-being than those who have children. Other results also pointed in that direction. The implications of the social context and gender, which are aspects that pose a burden for the exercise of parenthood in Chile, are discussed.

The male breadwinner nuclear family is not the 'traditional' human family, and promotion of this myth may have adverse health consequences

The importance of social support for parental and child health and wellbeing is not yet sufficiently widely recognized. The widespread myth in Western contexts that the male breadwinner-female homemaker nuclear family is the 'traditional' family structure leads to a focus on mothers alone as the individuals with responsibility for child wellbeing. Inaccurate perceptions about the family have the potential to distort academic research and public perceptions, and hamper attempts to improve parental and child health. These perceptions may have arisen partly from academic research in disciplines that focus on the Western middle classes, where this particular family form was idealized in the mid-twentieth century, when many of these disciplines were developing their foundational research. By contrast, evidence from disciplines that take a cross-cultural or historical perspective shows that in most human societies, multiple individuals beyond the mother are typically involved in raising children: in evolutionary anthropology, it is now widely accepted that we have evolved a strategy of cooperative reproduction. Expecting mothers to care for children with little support, while expecting fathers to provide for their families with little support, is, therefore, likely to lead to adverse health consequences for mothers, fathers and children. Incorporating evidence-based evolutionary, and anthropological, perspectives into research on health is vital if we are to ensure the wellbeing of individuals across a wide range of contexts. This article is part of the theme issue 'Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal-child health'.