Prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents in a selected school, Thiruvananthapuram

 Corresponding author: Nisha S Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents in a selected school, Thiruvananthapuram Nisha S 1, *, Simi S K 2, Silpa Raj 2, Akhil Raj 2, Abhirami S 2, Anakha S Rajeev 2, Anupama S Pradeep 2 and Jessy Thomas 3 1 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Nursing, Kims College of Nursing, Thiruvananthapuram, India. 2 Third Year BSc Nursing Students, Nursing, Kims College of Nursing, Thiruvananthapuram, India. 3 Department of Child Health Nursing, Nursing, Kims College of Nursing, Thiruvananthapuram, India. World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 Publication history: Received on 23 November 2024; revised on 28 December 2024; accepted on 30 December 2024 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjbphs.2025.21.1.1098 Abstract Gaining independence from various restriction set by parents is overjoy for adolescent. However, it does not always happen as it planned. The current study was aimed to assess “Prevalence of Helicopter parenting among adolescents” in a selected school, Thiruvananthapuram. The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of Helicopter Parenting among adolescents, to assess the prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of fathers of adolescents, to assess the prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of mothers of adolescents, to find out the association between prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of father’s and selected socio-personal variables and to find out the association between prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of mother’s and selected socio-personal variables. The sample size consists of 209 adolescents in a selected school Thiruvananthapuram. The tool used was structured questionnaire with 2 sections, section A consists of socio-personal variables such as age, gender, class of study, birth order, religion, place of residence, annual income, occupation of mother and father, parenting style of mother and father and section B consists of standardized Helicopter Parenting Instrument which consists of 15 statements that is rated by a 5-point Likert scale. The data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics by using SPSS. The result of the present study revealed that there is moderate prevalence of helicopter parenting practice in adolescents. Both parents exhibit helicopter parenting behavior and among that, majority of fathers (74.6%) showed helicopter parenting styles than the mothers (74.2%). Keywords: Prevalence of Helicopter Parenting; Helicopter Parenting Instrument; Adolescent; SPSS 1. Introduction 1.1. “A lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves’’ India is a country where families follow patriarchal ideology and Indian family is closely knit unit where the parents play very important role. Indian parenting is value-based parenting. It is a fact that there are no universal rules in parenting styles. Different parenting styles have different impacts on kids. Each parents have unique style of parenting which they develop from their behavioral pattern and from the environment they have been grown up [1]. Parenting style of Indians has been Helicopter Parenting through ages. This is deep rooted in our society and culture as well. Helicopter parenting refers to a style of parenting where parents are overly focused on children and hovering around their children to protect them and make them succeed in their life. These over protective parents are deciding the future plans of their children without teaching and demonstrating adequate skills, to make them independent [2]. World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 102 The ‘helicopter parenting’ was first coined in 1990 (Cline and Fay,2020) that describes parents who ‘hover’ over their children. According to Hirsch and Goldberg helicopter parenting is a process of distinctive parenting that never allowed their children to make mistakes and trapped them in the cave of stress. It is a unique form of parenting style that is generally described as highly intensive and highly involved with their children [3]. A systemic review was done in Norway in 2022 regarding helicopter parenting and its relationship with depression and anxiety. The purpose of study was to assess the relationship between helicopter parenting and symptoms of anxiety and depression. They reviewed 38 eligible research articles and the study quality was assessed in accordance with Campbells Validity Typology. Majority of the studies included in this systematic review found a direct relationship between helicopter parenting and symptoms of anxiety and depression in children [4]. A study was done in 2020 to assess “Do Indians follow helicopter parenting” by Neelanjana Bose reported that, helicopter parents do keep a track on their child’s development and progress in social, educational and interpersonal developments and ensure that the child is a part with others, in this competitive World. The study result showed that helicopter parenting is acceptable up to some level in guiding children but in long term neither is it useful nor advisable for the children because it creates anxiety and selfdoubt in children as they lose confidence to do their own work with freedom [1]. Majority of the studies showed a direct relationship between helicopter parenting and symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is a well-established fact that helicopter parenting has psychological impacts on children and therefore, assessing the prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents can provide insights into the need for modifying parenting styles 2. Material and methods 2.1. Hypothesis • H0: There is no significant association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescent and selected socio-personal variables such as age, gender, birth order, religion, class of study, type of family, place of residence, monthly income, occupation of father occupation of mother, parenting style of father, parenting style of mother. • H1: There is a significant association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescent and selected socio-personal variables such as age, gender, birth order, religion, class of study, type of family, place of residence, monthly income, occupation of father, occupation of mother, parenting style of father, parenting style of mother. 2.2. Research Approach Quantitative research approach 2.3. Research Design Descriptive non experimental research design 2.4. Setting of the study The study was conducted in a selected Higher Secondary school, Thiruvananthapuram 2.5. Population • Target population: Adolescent • Accessible population: Adolescents who are studying in eleventh and twelfth standard of a selected Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram 2.6. Sample Adolescents that include both boys and girls who are in the age group of 16-18 years studying in eleventh and twelfth standard of a selected Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram who meets the inclusion criteria. World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 103 2.7. Sample size The sample consists of 209 adolescents’ children 2.8. Sampling technique Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used 2.9. Criteria for sampling technique 2.9.1. Inclusion criteria • Adolescents within the age group of 16-18 years • Adolescents who can read and write Malayalam and English 2.9.2. Exclusion criteria • Adolescents who were not willing to participate in the study • Adolescents who were not present at the time of data collection • Adolescents those who have single parent 2.10. Research tool Structured standardized questionnaire to assess prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents which consist of two sections. 2.10.1. Section A Socio-personal variables such as age, gender, birth order, religion, class of study, type of family, place of residence, monthly income, occupation of mother, occupation of father, parenting style of father and parenting style of mother 2.10.2. Section B Helicopter Parenting Instrument which consists of 15 statements for both father and mother that are rated in a 5-point Likert Scale to assess the prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents 2.11. Scoring For each statement the maximum score given was 75 and the minimum score was 15. 5-point Likert scale was used with, strongly agree-5, agree -4, neutral -3, disagree -2, strongly disagree -1 for scoring of each statement for both father and mother and the scoring was done separately for each parent. The total scoring was done as follows: Table 1 Scoring of Helicopter Parenting Instrument Prevalence Score High 39-75 Moderate 38-55 Low 15-37 2.12. Pilot study The Pilot study was conducted among 10% of the sample at selected higher secondary school, Thiruvananthapuram 2.13. Data collection procedure Data collection was for a period of 1 month. The researchers went to the school on the day of data collection, and samples were selected using non-probability purposive sampling technique. Helicopter parenting Instruments was given to the samples who met the inclusion criteria and the response were analyzed 2.14. Plan for data analysis The data was collected from 209 samples using descriptive and inferential statistics. World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 104 • Descriptive statistics: In the present study, frequency and percentage were used to analyze the socio-personal variables • Inferential statistics: In this study, Chi-Square was used to analyze the association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among adolescents and selected socio-personal variables. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (SPSS) software, IBM SPSS version 20 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Organization of study findings The data were analyzed under the following headings • Section A: Distribution of samples based on sociopersonal variables • Section B: Prevalence of helicopter parenting among mothers of adolescents • Section C: Prevalence of helicopter parenting among fathers of adolescents • Section D: Association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among fathers and selected socio personal variables such as age, gender, class of study, birth order, religion, type of family, place of residence, annual monthly income, occupation of father, parenting styles of father • Section E: Association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among mothers and selected socio personal variables such as age, gender, class of study, birth order, religion, type of family, place of residence, annual monthly income, occupation of mother, parenting styles of mother 3.1.1. Section A: Distribution of samples based on socio personal variables • Age: Out of 209 subjects 24.90% were 17 years, 53.60% were 18 years, and 21.50% were 19 years Figure 1 Frequency and percentage distribution of subjects according to age • Gender: Majority of the samples were boys 59.8% and 40.2% were girls World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 105 Figure 2 Frequency and percentage distribution of subjects according to their gender • Class of study: 47.40% of subjects were class XI and 52.60% of subjects were class XII Figure 3 Percentage distribution of subjects according to their classes • Birth order: 61.20% were first child, 35.40% were second child, and 3.30% were third and more Figure 4 Percentage distribution of subjects according to birth order World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 106 • Religion: Majority, 74.60% belongs to Hindu, 21.10% belongs to Muslim, and 4.30% belongs to Christian communities Figure 5 Percentage distribution of samples according to religion • Place of residence: 43.50% belongs to rural area, 14.40% belongs to urban area, 42.10% belongs to semiurban area respectively Figure 6 Percentage distribution of subjects based on place of residence • Type of family: Majority, 75.10% belongs to nuclear family, 22% belongs to joint family, and 2.90% belongs to extended family World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 107 Figure 7 Percentage distribution of subject based on type of family • Annual income of family: Results shows that out of 209 subjects, 13.40% belongs to annual income below 20000 Rs/-, 67.50% belongs to annual income 20000 – 100000 Rs/- and 19.10% belongs to annual income above 100000 Rs/- respectively Figure 8 Percentage distribution of subject based on annual income of family • Occupation of mother: Majority of the mothers, 58.90% were jobless, 15.30% were Govt. employees, and 25.80% were private /self-employees respectively Figure 9 Percentage distribution of subjects based on occupation of mother World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 108 • Occupation of father: 20.60% were govt employee,78% were private/self-employed, 1.40% were jobless Figure 10 Percentage distribution of subjects based on occupation of father Parenting style of father: 37.30% were overprotective, 62.20% were liberal, and 0.50% were uninvolved Figure 11 Percentage distribution of subjects based on parenting style of father • Parenting style of mother: 26.30% were overprotective, 70.30% were liberal, and 3.30% were uninvolved Figure 12 Percentage distribution of subjects based on parenting style of mother World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2025, 21(01), 101-113 109 3.1.2. Section B: Prevalence of helicopter parenting among mothers of adolescents Table 2 Frequency and percentage distribution of samples according to prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of mothers (n=209) SN. Category Frequency(f) Percentage (%) 1 High (56-75) 44 21.1% 2 Moderate (38-55) 155 74.2% 3 Low (15-37) 10 4.8% Table 1 reveals that majority 155 (74.2%) of mothers shows moderate prevalence of helicopter parenting 3.1.3. Section C: Prevalence of helicopter parenting among fathers of adolescents Table 3 Frequency and percentage distribution of samples according to prevalence of Helicopter Parenting of fathers (n=209) SN. Category Frequency(f) Percentage (%) 1 High (56-75) 34 16.3% 2 Moderate (38-55) 156 74.6% 3 Low (15-37) 19 9.1% Table 2 reveals that majority 156 (74.6%) of fathers shows moderate prevalence of helicopter parenting 3.1.4. Section D: Association between prevalence of helicopter parenting among fathers and selected socio personal variables such as age, gender, birth order, religion, type of family, place of residence, annual monthly income, occupation of father, parenting styles of father Table 4 Chi square showing association between prevalence of Helicopter Parenting among fathers with age` (n=209) Variables Frequency Prevalence Degree of freedom(df) Chi-square value(χ2) High Moderate Low Age 16 52 10 38 4 2 *38.938 17 112 17 85 10 18 45 7 33 5 *Significant at 0.05; Table 3 showed that there is statistically significant association between age and prevalence of Helicopter Parenting among fathers. Calculated value (38.938) is greater than tabulated value (5.99). Hence H1 is accepted Table 5 Chi square value showing association between prevalence of Helicopter Parenting among father with gender (n=209) Variables Frequency Prevalence Degree of freedom(df) Chi-square value(χ2) High Moderate Low Gender Girl 84 18 61 5 1 *8.043 Boy 125 16 95 14 *Significant at 0.05 Table 4 showed that there is statistically significant association between gender and prevalence of Helicopter Parenting among fathers. Calculated value (8.043) is greater than tabulated value (3.84). Hence H1 is accepted.