What is colloquially referred to as “helicopter parenting” is a form of overparenting in which parents apply overly involved and developmentally inappropriate tactics to their children who are otherwise able to assume adult responsibilities and autonomy. Overparenting is hypothesized to be associated with dysfunctional family processes and negative child outcomes. Predictions were tested on 538 parent‐young adult child dyads from locations throughout most of the United States. Parents completed a newly developed measure of overparenting as well as family enmenshment, parenting styles, and parent‐child communication scales. Young adult children completed measures of parent‐child communication, family satisfaction, entitlement, and several adaptive traits. Results showed that overparenting is associated with lower quality parent‐child communication and has an indirect effect on lower family satisfaction. Overparenting was also a significant predictor of young adult child entitlement, although it was not related to any of the adaptive traits measured in young adult children.

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This study tested the prediction that spouses’ insecure attachment orientation would be negatively associated with relationship quality. It was further predicted that there would be indirect effects of attachment orientation on spouses’ relationship quality through interpersonal trust as well as indirect effects of attachment orientation on loneliness through spouses’ relationship quality. Predictions were tested on 225 married couples that completed measures of attachment orientation, personal commitment, dedication commitment, interpersonal trust, loneliness, and marital satisfaction. Tests of actor–partner interdependence revealed that insecure attachment (i.e., anxious and avoidant) was associated with lower relationship quality and that one partner’s insecure attachment was associated with his/her spouse’s report of lower relationship quality. Actor–partner mediator models revealed that interpersonal trust mediated the relationship between attachment orientation and relationship quality; insecure attachment was associated with lower levels of interpersonal trust and, in turn, lower relationship quality, both individually and dyadically. Similarly, relationship quality mediated the relationship between attachment orientation and loneliness; insecure attachment was associated with lower relationship quality and, in turn, higher levels of loneliness both individually and dyadically.

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