Overparenting and Narcissism in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Psychological Control

Abstract

Overparenting, or “helicopter parenting,” can be generally characterized as parenting that is well-intentioned, but over-involved and intrusive. This style of parenting has been especially highlighted in the lives of young adults, who may be inhibited by this form of parenting in the appropriate development of autonomy and independence. Overparenting shares conceptual similarities with parents’ psychological control practices, which involve emotional and psychological manipulation of children (e.g., inducing guilt, withholding love as a form of control). Although these constructs contain key differences, both have been linked to narcissism in young adults, by way of parental over-involvement in children’s lives. Thus, we sought to explore parental psychological control as a mediator between overparenting and narcissism, including in regard to both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic phenotypes. Participants included 380 young adult college students (age range: 18–26 years) who completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory, as well as reports of their parents’ behaviors related to overparenting and psychological control. Mediation analyses through Process in SPSS supported the hypothesized role of parental psychological control as a mediator between overparenting and narcissistic traits, including traits related to both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Effect sizes for each analysis were modest. This study further clarifies the nature of overparenting, and speaks to the need for further research in establishing the mechanisms by which overparenting may lead to narcissistic traits among young adults. © 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Full text

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Journal of Child and Family Studies
ISSN 1062-1024
Volume 27
Number 11
J Child Fam Stud (2018) 27:3650-3657
DOI 10.1007/s10826-018-1176-3
Overparenting and Narcissism in
Young Adults: The Mediating Role of
Psychological Control
Nathan A.Winner & Bonnie
C.Nicholson

1 23
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Journal of Child and Family Studies (2018) 27:3650–3657
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1176-3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Overparenting and Narcissism in Young Adults: The Mediating Role
of Psychological Control
Nathan A. Winner 1●Bonnie C. Nicholson1
Published online: 4 July 2018
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Overparenting, or “helicopter parenting,”can be generally characterized as parenting that is well-intentioned, but over-involved
and intrusive. This style of parenting has been especially highlighted in the lives of young adults, who may be inhibited by this
form of parenting in the appropriate development of autonomy and independence. Overparenting shares conceptual similarities
with parents’psychological control practices, which involve emotional and psychological manipulation of children (e.g.,
inducing guilt, withholding love as a form of control). Although these constructs contain key differences, both have been linked
to narcissism in young adults, by way of parental over-involvement in children’s lives. Thus, we sought to explore parental
psychological control as a mediator between overparenting and narcissism, including in regard to both grandiose and vulnerable
narcissistic phenotypes. Participants included 380 young adult college students (age range: 18–26 years) who completed the
Pathological Narcissism Inventory, as well as reports of their parents’behaviors related to overparenting and psychological
control. Mediation analyses through Process in SPSS supported the hypothesized role of parental psychological control as a
mediator between overparenting and narcissistic traits, including traits related to both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Effect
sizes for each analysis were modest. This study further clarifies the nature of overparenting, and speaks to the need for further
research in establishing the mechanisms by which overparenting may lead to narcissistic traits among young adults.
Keywords Helicopter parenting ●Narcissism ●Overparenting ●Psychological control
Overparenting, otherwise known as “helicopter parenting”
by researchers and media, has recently been implicated in
the development of narcissistic traits among young adult
children (Segrin et al. 2012,2013). However, the mechan-
isms responsible for the link between overparenting and
narcissism are not well understood. Parental psychological
control (PPC), which includes parenting practices focused
on emotional intrusion (Barber 1996), may be one such
link, as this construct has been tied to both overparenting
and narcissistic features (Givertz and Segrin 2014; Padilla-
Walker and Nelson 2012). Moreover, the role of PPC
between overparenting and narcissism may vary across
narcissistic phenotypes, as grandiose and vulnerable nar-
cissism are thought to possess different etiologies (Horton
et al. 2006; Kohut 1977).
Overparenting is a parenting style conceptualized as par-
ental over-involvement and intrusiveness, coupled with high
levels of parental warmth and responsiveness (Padilla-Walker
and Nelson 2012;Segrinetal.2013; Schiffrin et al. 2014).
This style of parenting, which appears related to the advent of
technology (e.g., cell phones, social networking) in parents’
ability to monitor their children’s whereabouts and behavior
(LeMoyne and Buchanan 2011), has been lamented by pop-
ular media as contributing to what appears to be an escalation
of dependency and functional decline in college students
(Joyce 2014; Morrison 2015), as well as a rise in narcissistic
traits among the current millennial generation (Asghar, 2014).
Often described as hovering over their young adult children
(Schiffrin et al. 2014), “helicopter parents”are often seen as
micromanaging their young adult children’spersonaland
professional lives (LeMoyne and Buchanan 2011), with
prototypical examples including parents contacting professors
over grade disputes (e.g., Hyman and Jacobs 2010)or
attending their child’s job interview (e.g., Begley 2013). In
short, overparenting appears typified by parents who impede
on appropriate development of young adult independence
(Nelson 2010;Segrinetal.2015).
*Nathan A. Winner
Nathan.a.winner@usm.edu
1Department of Psychology, The University of Southern
Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA
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Conceptually, overparenting is characterized by high
levels of warmth and support, combined with high levels of
parental control, and low levels of autonomy-granting
(Segrin et al. 2013). Thus, while overparenting shares
similarities with parenting styles such as authoritative par-
enting (i.e., high levels of warmth, moderate levels of
control) and authoritarian parenting (i.e., low levels of
warmth and autonomy-granting, high levels of control;
Baumrind 1966,1967), its unique combination of these
factors (i.e., high warmth, high control, and low autonomy-
granting) distinguish it from authoritative and authoritarian
parenting (Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012). In fact, over-
parenting has been compared to oversolicitous parenting
observed in parents of younger children, where parents
display high levels of warmth and involvement in situations
where children do not need assistance or reassurance (Rubin
et al. 1997). Oversolicitous parenting has been linked to
detrimental outcomes among preschool children, including
greater symptoms of depression and anxiety (Bayer et al.
2006; McShane and Hastings 2009). For this reason,
overparenting has been theorized as a later manifestation of
oversolicitous parenting (Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012;
Segrin et al. 2012). Moreover, while restriction of inde-
pendence may be problematic at any level of psychosocial
development (Bayer et al. 2006; Gar and Hudson 2008;
Grolnick et al. 2000; McShane and Hastings 2009), it may
be especially problematic for young adults, as these indi-
viduals leave the home and are expected to function
autonomously in their daily lives (Arnett 2004; Nelson and
Barry 2005). Thus, overparenting appears to be uniquely
troubling for the psychological development of young adult
children.
In fact, empirical research has begun to demonstrate that
overparenting is associated with a range of problematic
outcomes (Schiffrin et al. 2014; Segrin et al. 2013). For
example, studies have linked overparenting with a lower
degree of self-efficacy, which may put young adults at risk
while transitioning to college (Bradley-Geist and Olson-
Buchanan 2014; van Ingen et al. 2015). Additionally, var-
ious studies have linked overparenting with poorer emo-
tional health outcomes, including higher levels of anxiety
(Segrin et al. 2013), greater depressive symptoms, and less
satisfaction with life (Schiffrin et al. 2014). Studies by
Odenweller et al. (2014) and Segrin et al. (2013) have also
demonstrated overparenting to be predictive of poorer
coping strategies among young adults, which may further
exacerbate the impact of poorer emotional health.
Additionally, emerging research has begun to associate
overparenting with narcissistic traits among young adults
(Segrin et al. 2012,2013). These findings are consistent
with classical formulations of the etiology of narcissism
which implicate the role of parental overcontrol and
restrictions in leading to the development of narcissistic
traits (Kohut 1977; Millon and Everly 1985; Rothstein
1979). For example, Kohut (1977) theorized that parental
over-involvement and excessive control prevented children
from being able to experience “optimal frustrations,”or
opportunities for children to encounter difficulties when
confronted with new experiences. Kohut (1977) believed
failure to experience these optimal frustrations led to chil-
dren who were dependent on others for validation of their
own sense of self, which is a pattern of interpersonal
functioning consistent with narcissism (Cain et al. 2008;
Miller et al. 2011). Other theorists have arrived at similar
conclusions, albeit through different theoretical interpreta-
tions. For example, Rothstein’s(1979) object-relations
perspective posits that parental over-involvement is essen-
tially a means for a parent to prevent a child from devel-
oping an independently functioning and healthy sense of
self. Regardless of the specific theoretical interpretation,
researchers have indicted various forms of parental over-
control in the development of narcissism, including over-
parenting (Segrin et al. 2012,2013), authoritarian parenting
(Cramer 2015; Ramsey et al. 1996; Watson et al. 1992) and
PPC (Givertz and Segrin 2014; Horton et al. 2006; Horton
and Tritch 2014). Therefore, while classic theoretical
approaches did not account for more modern manifestations
of parental overcontrol and intrusiveness, such as “heli-
copter parenting”(Horton et al. 2006; Segrin et al. 2013),
the intrusive and over-controlling nature of overparenting
appears to be a plausible antecedent for the development of
these narcissistic traits (Locke et al. 2012).
In fact, PPC may play an important role in the relation-
ship between overparenting and young adult narcissism.
PPC consists of specific parenting practices that interfere
with the appropriate development of psychological and
emotional health in children (Barber 1996). Regarded as a
more insidious form of parenting (Barber 1996), specific
examples of PPC practices include the withdrawal of love
and the deployment of guilt tactics as forms of emotional
manipulation (Barber 1996; Horton et al. 2006). Compared
to overparenting, PPC is regarded as less well-intentioned.
While both include efforts to control behavior, in the case of
PPC, the intrusion is related to young adult children’s
emotional functioning, whereas with overparenting, the
intrusion seems to be more related to a restriction of
autonomy (Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012). Nevertheless,
while these constructs remain empirically and conceptually
distinct, overparenting and PPC are similar in that both
include over-involvement, and they do not occur mutually
exclusively (Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012). We posit
that PPC may be one tactic used by parents who engage in
overparenting, and it is this mechanism which may be
responsible for the narcissistic tendencies in young adults.
Furthermore, in keeping with the perspectives of personality
theorists who emphasize the role of parental intrusiveness in
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the etiology of narcissism (e.g., Kohut 1977; Rothstein
1979), researchers have linked PPC practices with the pre-
sence of narcissistic traits among young adults (Givertz and
Segrin 2014; Horton et al. 2006; Horton and Tritch 2014).
Additionally, while studies have begun to link over-
parenting and PPC to narcissistic traits more broadly
(Givertz and Segrin 2014; Horton et al. 2006; Segrin et al.
2012,2013), research should continue to differentiate the
predictive ability of these parenting approaches between
specific narcissistic phenotypes (i.e., grandiose vs. vulner-
able narcissism). Specifically, grandiose narcissism
describes narcissistic functioning which is more openly
arrogant and egotistical, with individuals possessing these
traits displaying little awareness or concern for their pro-
blematic interpersonal patterns (Dickinson and Pincus 2003;
Gabbard 1989). Conversely, vulnerable narcissism is char-
acterized by a greater degree of anxious-avoidant behaviors
(Dickinson and Pincus 2003; Miller et al. 2011). Excessive
and intrusive parental involvement appears predictive of
children who develop an overreliance on others for their
sense of self (Horton et al. 2006), which is a pattern more
similar to vulnerable narcissism compared to grandiose
narcissism (Miller et al. 2011). Conversely, parental per-
missiveness and pampering has been linked to the devel-
opment of grandiose narcissistic traits more specifically
(Capron 2004; Imbesi 1999; Mechanic and Berry 2015;
Otway and Vignoles 2006). As overparenting appears more
closely representative of parenting which is over-controlling
and intrusive (as it is not necessarily defined by an over-
affection; Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012), and as intru-
siveness is a key component of PPC (Barber 1996), further
examination of the predictive ability of both overparenting
and PPC to separate narcissistic phenotypes appears
warranted.
Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the
mediating role of PPC between overparenting and narcis-
sistic traits among young adults. Specifically, we hypothe-
sized that (1) PPC would mediate the relationship between
overparenting and narcissistic traits. Additionally, we
sought to assess mediations separately for vulnerable and
grandiose narcissistic phenotypes, and we hypothesized that
(2) the mediating role of PPC between overparenting and
narcissism would vary across vulnerable and grandiose
narcissism.
Method
Participants
A total of 476 young adult college students from a mid-
sized university in the southeastern United Stated were
initially recruited for the present study. Validity checks
were incorporated into study measures (Huang et al. 2012),
which included removing participants who failed to respond
in a specific manner to two directed response items (e.g.,
Answer “disagree”to this question; N=1). Additionally,
participants who completed study questionnaires within a
time which would be considered unreasonable (i.e., 40 s for
the PNI, 15 s for the PCS, 8 s for the HPS) were removed
from further analyses (N=40). An additional 55 partici-
pants were removed for failing to complete the study in its
entirety, which resulted in a total of 96 participants being
removed from the sample.
Therefore, a total of 380 participants (age: M=20.1, SD
=1.72; age range: 18–26 years) were retained for the pre-
sent study. Participants were predominantly female
(78.9%), and either White/non-Hispanic (57.1%) or Black/
African American (36.3%). All study participants were also
asked to provide information on one primary caregiver, who
they were to refer to in completing each measure of par-
enting behavior. Mothers were the most commonly identi-
fied primary caregiver (81.6%), followed by fathers
(11.3%), grandmothers or other female family members
(e.g., aunts; 3.4%), and “other”(3.7%). Participants were
further asked to indicate “where [they] think [they] stand.
relative to other people in the United States”on a 7-point
scale (1 =Lowest to 7 =Highest) to assess socioeconomic
status (Adler et al. 1994). Results demonstrated a slight
positive skew (M=3.17, SD =1.68). Following a brief
demographic questionnaire, participants completed all
additional measures, which were presented in randomized
order.
Procedure
All study procedures were approved by the university’s
Institutional Review Board. Upon providing informed
consent, participants completed all study measures through
SONA, an anonymous online survey system used for
scheduling undergraduate research participants.
Measures
Overparenting
The Helicopter Parenting Scale (HPS; Padilla-Walker and
Nelson 2012)isafive-item measure of overparenting, used to
assess participants’reports of their parents’over-intrusive
parenting behavior (e.g., “My parent intervenes in solving
problems with my employers or professors;”“My parent
solves any crisis or problem I might have”). Items are rated on
afive-point Likert scale (1 =Notatalllikehim/herto 5 =A
lot like him/her) and summed, with higher scores indicative of
a greater degree of overparenting behaviors. Internal con-
sistency was adequate (α=0.80) for the present study.
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Parental psychological control
The Psychological Control Scale (PCS; Schaeffer 1965)is
an 8-item measure used to assess the psychological control
practices of participants’parents (e.g., “My parent is a
person who brings up my past mistakes when he/she criti-
cizes me;”“My parent is a person who is less friendly with
me, if I do not see things his/her way”). Participants rate
each item on a three-point Likert scale (1 =Not like him/her
to 3 =A lot like him/her), with higher numbers indicative of
a greater degree of PPC practices utilized. The PCS
demonstrated adequate reliability for the present study (α=
0.87).
Narcissism
The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al.
2009) is a 52-item self-report measure of participants’
narcissistic tendencies. Each item is rated on a six-point
Likert scale (1 =Not at all like me to 6 =Very much like
me). The PNI consists of two main subscales (i.e., Narcis-
sistic Grandiosity and Narcissistic Vulnerability) which are
formed by taking the mean of 18 items and 34 items within
the measure, respectively. A total score is then formed by
taking the mean of these two combined subscales. Examples
items include “Sacrificing for others makes me the better
person”for Narcissistic Grandiosity, and “When people
don’t notice me, I start to feel bad about myself”for Nar-
cissistic Vulnerability. Reliability coefficients for the PNI
total score, the Narcissistic Grandiosity subscale, and the
Narcissistic Vulnerability subscale were 0.95, 0.87, and
0.94, respectively.
Data Analyses
Mediation analyses were utilized through Process (Hayes
2012), a macro for SPSS. Bootstrapping (10,000 samples)
was used to test significance of indirect effects. Over-
parenting was entered as an independent variable in pre-
dicting narcissistic traits (separately for overall narcissism,
grandiose narcissism, and vulnerable narcissism), with PPC
as a hypothesized mediator.
Results
Bivariate correlations, means, and standard deviations are
provided in Table 1. As expected, overparenting was sig-
nificantly correlated with both PPC and total narcissism. No
significant differences for participant sex were found for the
HPS (F(1, 378) =0.85, p=0.057), the PCS (F(1, 378) =
0.65, p=0.782), or the PNI (F(1, 378) =0.21, p=0.839).
Results for mediation analyses can be seen in Tables 2,3,
and 4.
Both overparenting (β=1.34, 95% CI [0.06–2.11]) and
PPC (β=2.55, 95% CI [1.49–3.61]) were determined to be
significant predictors of narcissistic traits when examined
separately (see Fig. 1). In examining the combined media-
tion model, the direct effect of overparenting on narcissism
remained significant (β=1.11, 95% CI [0.40–1.81]), and
the indirect effect of overparenting through PPC was also
significant (β=0.23, 95% CI [0.05–0.51]), indicating that
PPC mediated the relationship between overparenting and
narcissism (accounting for 17.1% of the relationship). The
R-squared effect size was 0.012, and the Kappa-squared
effect size was 0.034.
Table 1 Means, standard
deviations, and bivariate
correlations of study measures
M (SD) 12345
Helicopter Parenting Scale (HPS) 11.88 (4.99) –0.123* 0.194** 0.156** 0.188**
Psychological Control Scale (PCS) 11.27 (3.67) –0.292** 0.139** 0.334**
Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) 82.65 (34.39) –0.827** 0.955**
PNI: Narcissistic Grandiosity 34.97 (13.07) –0.622**
PNI: Narcissistic Vulnerability 47.67 (24.70) –
**p< .01; *p< .05 (two-tailed)
Table 2 Parental psychological
control as a mediator between
overparenting and narcissistic
traits
Dependent variable Predictor variable βSE 95% CI R2F
PPC (M) OP (X) 0.09 0.04 [0.02–0.16] 0.02 5.82 (1, 378), p< 0.05
PN (Y) OP (X) 1.34 0.35 [0.65–2.02] 0.04 14.80 (1, 378), p< 0.001
PPC (M) 2.55 0.46 [1.65–3.45] ––
PN (Y) OP (X) through PPC (M) ––– 0.11 23.52 (2, 377), p< 0.001
OP overparenting, PPC parental psychological control, PN pathological narcissism, Mmediator, X
independent variable, Ydependent variable
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In examining grandiose narcissistic traits as the outcome
variable, both overparenting (β=0.41, 95% CI [0.15–0.67])
and PPC (β=0.43, 95% CI [0.08–0.79]) were found to be
significant predictors (see Fig. 2). Additionally, both the
direct effect (β=0.37, 95% CI [0.12–0.63]) and indirect
effect (β=0.04, 95% CI [0.004–0.11]) of overparenting
through PPC on grandiose narcissism were significant,
indicating that PPC is a mediator (accounting for approxi-
mately 9.8% of the relationship) between overparenting and
grandiose narcissism, albeit to a seemingly lesser degree
than between overparenting and total narcissism. The R2and
K2effect sizes were 0.005 and 0.02, respectively.
Next, both overparenting (β=0.93, 95% CI [0.44–1.42])
and PPC (β=2.11, 95% CI [1.48–2.75]) were found to be
significant predictors of vulnerable narcissistic traits (see Fig.
3). The direct effect of overparenting on vulnerable narcissism
remained significant (β=0.74, 95% CI [0.27–1.21]), while
the indirect effect of overparenting through PPC was also
significant (β=0.19, 95% CI [0.03–0.40]), indicating that
PPC serves as a mediator. Specifically, PPC accounted for
approximately 20.4% of the relationship between over-
parenting and vulnerable narcissism, and the R2and K2effect
sizes were 0.01 and 0.04, respectively.
Discussion
The present study examined the relationship between over-
parenting and narcissism, by demonstrating that PPC is a
mediator in the relationship between overparenting and
narcissistic traits among young adult college students.
Additionally, PPC appears to account for the relationship
between overparenting and both grandiose narcissism and
vulnerable narcissism separately, although this mediation
appears slightly more robust when examined between
Table 3 Parental psychological
control as a mediator between
overparenting and grandiose
narcissism
Dependent variable Predictor variable βSE 95% CI R2F
PPC (M) OP (X) 0.09 0.04 [0.02–0.16] 0.02 5.82 (1, 378), p< 0.05
GN (Y) OP (X) 0.41 0.13 [0.15–0.67] 0.02 9.44 (1, 378), p< 0.05
PPC (M) 0.43 0.18 [0.08–0.79] ––
GN (Y) OP (X) through PPC (M) ––– 0.04 7.63 (2, 377), p< 0.001
OP overparenting, PPC parental psychological control, GN grandiose narcissism, Mmediator, X
independent variable, Ydependent variable
Table 4 Parental psychological
control as a mediator between
overparenting and vulnerable
narcissism
Dependent variable Predictor variable βSE 95% CI R2F
PPC (M) OP (X) 0.09 0.04 [0.02–0.16] 0.02 5.82 (1, 378), p< 0.05
VN (Y) OP (X) 0.92 0.25 [0.44–1.42] 0.04 13.80 (1,378), p< 0.001
PPC (M) 2.12 0.32 [1.48–2.76] ––
VN (Y) OP (X) through PPC (M) ––– 0.13 28.96 (2, 377), p< 0.001
OP overparenting, PPC parental psychological control, VN vulnerable narcissism, Mmediator, X
independent variable, Ydependent variable
Overparenting
Parental Psychological
Control
Narcissistic Traits
a = 0.09 [0.01-0.17]
b = 2.55 [1.49-3.61]
c = 1.34 [0.57-2.11]
c’ = 1.11 [0.40-1.81]
Fig. 1 Mediation of parental psychological control between over-
parenting and narcissistic traits. Note: Path coefficients are standar-
dized regression coefficients
Overparenting
Parental Psychological
Control
Grandiose Narcissistic
Traits
a = 0.09 [0.02-0.16]
b = 0.43 [0.08-0.79]
c = 0.41 [0.15-0.67]
c’ = 0.37 [0.12-0.63]
Fig. 2 Mediation of parental psychological control between over-
parenting and grandiose narcissistic traits. Note: Path coefficients are
standardized regression coefficients
Overparenting
Parental Psychological
Control
Vulnerable Narcissistic
Traits
a = 0.09 [0.02-0.16]
b = 2.12 [1.48-2.76]
c = 0.93 [0.44-1.42]
c’ = 0.74 [0.27-1.21]
Fig. 3 Mediation of parental psychological control between over-
parenting and vulnerable narcissistic traits. Note: Path values are
standardized regression coefficients
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overparenting and vulnerable narcissism. However, the dif-
ferences in effect sizes between these two mediations were
modest, and thus PPC appears to be better understood as a
mediator between overparenting and narcissism more
broadly, rather than vulnerable narcissism specifically.
These findings are consistent with previous research
linking both overparenting (Segrin et al. 2012,2013) and
PPC (Givertz and Segrin 2014; Horton et al. 2006) to nar-
cissistic tendencies, while also examining the latter as a
mediator. While overparenting has traditionally been con-
sidered less malevolent than PPC (Barber 1996; Padilla-
Walker and Nelson 2012), these findings suggest that the
potential for parents to go too far in their desire to remain
prominent and involved in their children’s lives appears to
be linked to the development of narcissistic traits. For
example, it is possible that as young adult children gain
independence and spend greater time outside the home,
parents’over-involvement and intrusive overparenting
practices may become exacerbated, and may even develop
into more insidious psychological control practices. Of
course, given the cross-sectional nature of the present
study’s methodology, as well as the relatively small effect
sizes, any conclusions regarding causality should remain
tentative.
Additionally, in comparing the mediating role of PPC
between overparenting and separate narcissistic phenotypes,
the present study found a slightly stronger mediation for
vulnerable narcissism, rather than grandiose narcissism,
which is consistent with previous research implicating
parental over-control in the development of vulnerable
narcissistic traits (Horton et al. 2006; Kohut 1977). How-
ever, the mediation of PPC between overparenting and
grandiose narcissism was also significant, which suggests
that overparenting and PPC together may be better under-
stood as predictive of narcissism more generally. This
finding may be due to the high levels of warmth often
observed in overparenting, despite overparenting not being
assumed to be overly affectionate (Padilla-Walker and
Nelson 2012). As an excess of affection and pampering has
been linked to the development of grandiose narcissism
(Capron 2004; Imbesi 1999; Mechanic and Berry 2015),
these findings suggest the possibility for “helicopter”par-
ents to in fact exhibit more affection than has traditionally
been theorized (Padilla-Walker and Nelson 2012), perhaps
as a means of justifying excessive control. Alternately, this
finding is also likely attributable to the strong relationship
and co-occurrence observed between vulnerable and
grandiose narcissistic phenotypes (Pincus, 2013; Ronning-
stam 2009). Clearly, further research is needed before
drawing any definite conclusions about the relationships
between overparenting and separate narcissistic phenotypes.
Additionally, data analysis methods which are able to
directly compare separate mediations (e.g., invariance test-
ing) are recommended for future studies.
Limitations and Future Research Directions
The present study includes some pertinent limitations. All
analyses are correlational in design, which precludes any
definitive determination of causal ordering of variables.
Given the reciprocal nature of parent-child relationships,
it is possible that young adults’narcissistic traits influence
parenting practices, including parenting practices related
to overcontrol. Similarly, the primary role of over-
parenting relative to PPC also cannot be assumed. Studies
which utilize longitudinal designs are recommended for
further clarifying any causal (or bidirectional) nature of
study variables. It should be noted that all measures uti-
lized within the present study (including reports of par-
enting practices) were completed by young adult children.
While studies have suggested that young adults can
accurately report on parenting practices exhibited by their
parents (Barry et al. 2008), certainly the child’sperspec-
tive may be influenced by their own personality and
experiences. Moreover, children may not have full access
to the range of their parents’relevant behaviors. Future
studies may therefore wish to include direct parental
reports.
Additionally, the present sample is limited in general-
izability, with most participants consisting of female college
students from a single university. Given the limited gen-
eralizability regarding college students, including in regard
to socioeconomic status (McDonough 1997; Walpole
2003), additional studies should seek a more diverse sample
of participants. However, it should be noted that no dif-
ferences in participant sex were observed between study
measures, and the participant SES appeared positively,
rather than negatively skewed. Additionally, the racial
diversity of the present study’s sample should be considered
a strength.
Future research should explore additional possibilities
regarding mediating relationships between overparenting
and narcissism. For example, interpersonal dependency,
which has been linked to both overparenting (Odenweller
et al. 2014) and narcissistic traits (Kins et al. 2011,2012),
may be an additional mechanism in this relationship.
Similarly, parental overvaluation may play a mediating role
between overparenting and grandiose narcissism, in parti-
cular (Brummelman et al. 2015). Additional measures of
parenting behaviors should also be included in future stu-
dies, in order to further differentiate the role of over-
parenting compared to other similar parenting styles,
particularly in the development of narcissism.
In conclusion, findings from the present study suggest
that the relationship between overparenting and narcissistic
Journal of Child and Family Studies (2018) 27:3650–3657 3655
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traits among young adult college students may be at least
partially attributable to parents’use of PPC practices (e.g.,
withholding love; utilization of guilt tactics). These findings
provide further explanation for the relationship between
“helicopter”parenting and narcissism among young adults,
and should thus aid in future research and theorizing. While
conclusions regarding any causal relationship between these
variables should remain tentative, these findings are con-
sistent with a growing body of research linking over-
parenting with narcissism.
Author Contributions N.A.W. designed and executed the study, ran
the data analyses, and wrote the paper. B.C.N. collaborated with the
design of the study and editing of the final manuscript.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving
human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of
The University of Southern Mississippi’s Institutional Review Board
and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or
comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies
with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from all individual
participants included in the study.
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