'Helicopter' Parents Have Neurotic Kids

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/helicopterparentshaveneurotickidsstudysuggests;_ylt=AtLMc4NVeUPx0tsmOJCYaWus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTRyZDhsdTZ0BGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTAwNjAzL2hlbGljb3B0ZXJwYXJlbnRzaGF2ZW5ldXJvdGlja2lkc3N0dWR5c3VnZ2VzdHMEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDaGVsaWNvcHRlcnBh

Rachael Rettner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com rachael Rettner
livescience Staff Writer
livescience.com – Thu Jun 3, 12:31 pm ET

BOSTON - Overly protective parents might be leaving a lasting impact on their child's personality, and not in a good way, a new study finds.

The results show having so-called "helicopter parents" was associated with being dependent, neurotic and less open, a slew of personality traits that are generally thought of as undesirable.

The study, which surveyed college freshman, is one of the first to try to define exactly what helicopter parenting is, and measure it. The term was originally coined by college admissions personnel when they started to notice a change in parents of prospective students - parents would call the admissions office and try to intervene in a process that had previously just been between the student and the college, said study researcher Neil Montgomery, a psychologist at Keene State College in N.H.

While the findings are only preliminary, and more studies are needed to back up the results, they suggest this type of over-parenting might lead to children who are ultimately not ready to leave the nest.

"I think what the helicopter parents did is they decided, 'OK we know what good parenting looks like, we're just going to ratchet it up to a new level, and our kids are going to be even better,'" Montgomery said. "The problem is, when they ratcheted it up, they went too far, and in fact, caused an expansion of childhood or adolescence."

----- (skipping)

Students with helicopter parents tended to be less open to new ideas and actions, as well as more vulnerable, anxious and self-consciousness, among other factors, compared with their counterparts with more distant parents.

"We have a person who is dependent, who is vulnerable, who is self-conscious, who is anxious, who is impulsive, not open to new actions or ideas; is that going to make a successful college student?" Montgomery said. "No not exactly, it's really a horrible story at the end of the day."

On the other hand, in non-helicoptered students who were given responsibility and not constantly monitored by their parents, so-called "free rangers" the effects were reversed, Montgomery said.

..