Petegem Lab

Research focus

ERC Starting Grant · 2020

Better safe than sorry? Identifying causes of overprotective parenting in a changing social world

Popular and scientific accounts describe how the phenomenon of overprotective parenting (also labeled “helicopter parenting” or “overparenting”) is on the rise. This evolution is highly problematic, as it puts future generations of adolescents and parents at risk for mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Although past research offered some insights into the causes of overprotection, thereby identifying a number of parent-related and child-related determinants, there is no systematic research on the societal, economic, and cultural causes of overprotective parenting. By bringing together theories from multiple disciplines (including developmental psychology, social…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.