London - So-called helicopter parents are being told to ‘pull back’ and let children solve problems themselves after experts found their intrusiveness makes youngsters self-critical and anxious.
It follows a study in which researchers gave 263 seven-year-olds a puzzle to solve within a time limit.
Parents were told they could help at any time – and those who regularly intervened were assessed for more controlling traits.
Of those parents’ children, 60 per cent were found to be increasingly self-critical.
Child behaviour expert Professor Mark Dadd, of Sydney University, said: ‘The study speaks of the importance of parents being able to pull back and help the child problem-solve themselves rather than just jumping in.’
‘It’s about helping parents, not in a coercive or blaming way, but empowering parents to have the skills to facilitate their children’s ability to independently problem solve.’
The study, by the National University of Singapore, said that children with intrusive parents became afraid of making mistakes and often blame themselves for not being good enough – putting them at increased risk of developing depression and even suicide.
Daily Mail