Children of helicopter parents more prone to depression, US study finds

Parents who still run their university-aged children's schedules, laundry and holidays could be doing their offspring more harm than good, according to an American study.

Researcher Holly Schiffrin from the University of Mary Washington in Virginia concluded that such "helicopter parenting", so called because the parents hover over their children, hurt college students by undermining their need to feel autonomous and competent.

Her study, published on Wednesday, found students with over-controlling parents were more likely to be depressed and less satisfied with their lives, while the number of hyperparents was rising with economic fears fuelling concerns over youngsters' chances of success.

"You expect parents with younger kids to be very involved but the problem is that these children are old enough to look after themselves and their parents are not backing off," Schiffrin, an associate professor of psychology, said.

"To find parents so closely involved with their college lives, contacting their tutors and running their schedules, is something new and on the increase. It does not allow independence and the chance to learn from mistakes."

Schiffrin's study, published in Springer's Journal of Child and Family Studies, is based on an online survey of 297 US university students in which they described their mothers' parenting behaviour and their own autonomy and researchers assessed their happiness and satisfaction levels.

The study comes as debate rises over how much parents should run their children's lives to make them succeed.

Schiffrin said the increase in technology had changed the involvement of parents in their children's college lives as the once-a-week phone call home was replaced with regular texting, e-mails and messaging.

The competitive marketplace and jostling for top college slots and the best jobs has also boosted the involvement of parents in college lives.

She said that to counteract this, rising numbers of universities were starting to run parental orientation days parallel to events for students to help encourage parents to give their children more freedom.