Helicopter Parenting, Parental Psychological and Behavioral Control Revisited: Assessing Constructs Across the United States and South Korea

Abstract

This study examined the construct validity of helicopter parenting by comparing this construct with other close relevant constructs of psychological control and behavioral control, using a cross-cultural comparison approach. Data were collected from college students in the United States ( N = 380) and South Korea ( N = 204). Multi-group structural equation modeling analyses indicated that helicopter parenting was a correlated yet separate construct, compared with psychological control and behavioral control in both the US and Korea samples, suggesting a convergent and discriminant validity cross-culturally. Several items in helicopter parenting, psychological control, and behavioral control were more associated with Korean contexts. This study contributes to the extant literature by investigating the validity issue of helicopter parenting in a cross-cultural context, providing an in-depth understanding of parental control practices across Eastern and Western cultures.

Parental control and college students’ depressive symptoms: A latent class analysis

“…In recent years, controlling parenting practices for emerging adults have been the subject of considerable research attention [ 4 , 5 , 21 ]. Researchers have identified three major forms of controlling parenting practices for emerging adult children: behavioral control, psychological control, and helicopter parenting [ 3 , 5 , 19 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, helicopter parenting may have fewer negative or neutral effects during the early stages of development and may become inappropriate as children grow and seek independence. The concern with helicopter parenting is that some parents continue to exhibit micromanaging and overprotective behavior even as their children reach developmental stages, like emerging adulthood, where they should be encouraged to gain autonomy [ 21 ].…”