London - Children of pushy parents are more likely to reject them in later life, a study has suggested.
Boys and girls born to ‘helicopter moms’ grow up being resentful of the pressure that has been piled on them in their youth.
Instead parents should respect a child’s autonomy from an early age and let them make their own choices.
Researchers studied ‘helicopter moms’ – a term coined for middle-class parents who continually ‘hover’ over their offspring – by measuring the extent to which the mothers of 2,000 children aged two controlled activities during play.
They then repeated the experiment between the ages of 10 and 11 and made observations during a discussion between mother and child about areas in which they disagreed.
According to the study, the level of controlling behaviour accurately predicted whether a child liked or disliked their parents.
‘It looks like children just don’t like to be with their mothers as much if mothers are highly controlling,’ said lead researcher Jean Ispa, a human development professor at the University of Missouri.
‘That is not a good thing. Ten-year-olds should enjoy being with mom.’
She said parents should explain why they are giving an order from an early age.
‘We found that mothers who supported their children’s autonomy were regarded more positively by their children than mothers who were highly directive,’ said the professor.
Daily Mail