| In recent years, the topic of overparenting has gained popularity in both the research literature and the popular media and is associated with new generations of Americans who fear failure and operate from a place of anxiety. Overparenting is defined by the provision of developmentally inappropriate levels of support to children who could manage tasks on their own (Munich & Munich, 2009). Such support, which includes affect management, advice giving, harm avoidance, and overprotection, has been associated with maladaptive outcomes in adult children (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, Bauer, & Murphy, 2012). Currently, there is little to no research on the origins or impact of overparenting among younger children and their parents. The current study assessed 56 parents of children in kindergarten through eighth grade, using measures of overparenting, parenting style, and anxiety. It was hypothesized that overparenting would positively correlate with the authoritative parenting style and with anxiety levels. Results revealed positive correlations between overparenting and anxiety, and also between overparenting and the authoritarian parenting style. As in studies of adult children, overparenting in grade school children is associated with both parental anxiety and the authoritarian parenting style. |
