Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T09:33:02.589Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Overparenting and Homework: The Student's Task, But Everyone's Responsibility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

Judith Y. Locke ,
David J. Kavanagh  and
Marilyn A. Campbell
Judith Y. Locke*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
David J. Kavanagh
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Marilyn A. Campbell
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Judith Y. Locke, PO Box 981, Paddington QLD 4064Australia. Email: judith@confidentandcapable.com
Get access

Abstract

A high level of parental involvement is widely considered to be essential for optimal child and adolescent development and wellbeing, including academic success. However, recent consideration has been given to the idea that extremely high levels of parental involvement (often called ‘overparenting’ or ‘helicopter parenting’) might not be beneficial. This study used a newly created overparenting measure, the Locke Parenting Scale (LPS), to investigate the association of overparenting and children's homework. Eight hundred and sixty-six parents completed online questionnaires about their parenting beliefs and intentions, and their attitudes associated with their child's homework. Parents with higher LPS scores tended to take more personal responsibility for the completion of their child's homework than did other parents, and ascribed greater responsibility for homework completion to their child's teacher. However, increased perceived responsibility by parents and teachers was not accompanied by a commensurate reduction in what they perceived was the child's responsibility. Future research should examine whether extreme parental attitudes and reported behaviours translate to validated changes in actual homework support.

Keywords

overparentingchildrenhomeworkhelicopter parenting
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , June 2016 , pp. 1 - 15
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baumrind, D. (1965). Parental control and parental love. Children, 12, 230–234. doi:10.2307/1126611Google ScholarPubMed
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56–95. doi:10.1177/0272431691111004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1993). The average expectable environment is not good enough: A response to Scarr. Child Development, 64, 1299–1317. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, E.C. (1916). The value of home study under parental supervision. The Elementary School Journal, 17, 187–194. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/stable/993882CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buri, J.R., Louiselle, P.A., Misukanis, T.M., & Mueller, R.A. (1988). Effects of parental authoritarianism and authoritativeness on self-esteem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 271–282. doi:10.1177/0146167288142006/Google Scholar
Epstein, J.L., & Van Voorhis, F.L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers’ roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36, 181–193. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3603_4Google Scholar
Gilmore, L., Cuskelly, M., Jobling, A., & Hayes, A. (2009). Maternal support for autonomy: Relationships with persistence for children with down syndrome and typically developing children. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30, 1023–1033. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.02.005Google Scholar
Greenberger, E., Lessard, J., Chen, C., & Farruggia, S.P. (2008). Self-entitled college students: Contributions of personality, parenting, and motivational factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 1193–1204. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9284-9Google Scholar
Grolnick, W.S. (2009). The role of parents in facilitating autonomous self-regulation for education. Theory and Research in Education, 7, 164–173. doi:10.1177/1477878509104321CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoover-Dempsey, K., & Sandler, H.M. (1997). Why do parents become involved in their children's education? Review of Educational Research, 67, 3–42. doi:10.3102/00346543067001003Google Scholar
Hoover-Dempsey, KV., Battianto, A.C., Walker, J.M.T., Reed, R.P., DeJong, J.M., & Jones, K.P. (2001). Parental involvement in homework. Educational Psychologist, 36, 195–209. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3603_5Google Scholar
Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., Walker, J.M.T., Sandler, H.M., Whetsal, D., Green, C.L., Wilkins, A.S., & Closson, K. (2005). Why do parents get involved? Research findings and implications. The Elementary School Journal, 106, 105–130. doi:10.1086/499194CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, I., Kaplan, A., & Buzakashvily, T. (2011). The role of parent's motivation in students' autonomous motivation for doing homework. Learning and Individual differences, 21, 376–386. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2011.04.001Google Scholar
Keith, T.Z., & Keith, P.B. (1993). Does parental involvement affect eighth-grade student achievement? Structural analysis of national data. School Psychology Review, 22, 474–496.Google Scholar
Lahey, J. (2013, January 29). Why parents need to let their children fail. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/why-parents-need-to-let-their-children-fail/272603/Google Scholar
Levine, M. (2012, Aug 05). Raising successful children. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1031045801?accountid=13380Google Scholar
LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does ‘hovering’ matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum, 31, 399–418. doi:10.1080/02732173.2011.574038CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, J., Campbell, M.A., & Kavanagh, D.J. (2012). Can a parent do too much for their child? An examination by parenting professionals of the concept of overparenting. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 22, 249–265. doi:10.1017/jgc.2012.29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, J., Kavanagh, D.J., & Campbell, M.A. (2015). Development and validation of a new overparenting measure — The Locke Parenting Scale. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Milevski, A., Schlechter, M., Netter, S., & Keehn, D. (2007). Maternal and paternal parenting styles in adolescents: Associations with self-esteem, depression and life satisfaction. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 39–47. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9066-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery, N. (2010, May). The negative impact of helicopter parenting on personality. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science 22nd Annual Convention, Boston, MA. Retrieved from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/convention/program_2010/search/viewProgram.cfm?Abstract_ID=17837&subject_id=all&keyword=PersonalityGoogle Scholar
Moorman, E.A., & Pomerantz, E.M. (2010). Ability mindsets influence the quality of mothers’ involvement in children's learning: An experimental investigation. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1354–1362. doi:10.1037/a0020376CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nulty, D.D. (2008). The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: What can be done? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 33, 301–314. doi:10.1080/02602930701293231Google Scholar
Padilla-Walker, L.M., & Nelson, L.J. (2012). Black hawk down?: Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1177–1191. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.03.007Google Scholar
Pomerantz, E.M., & Eaton, M.M. (2000). Developmental differences in children's conceptions of parental control: ‘They love me, but they make me feel incompetent’. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46, 140–167. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/230103739?accountid=13380Google Scholar
Schiffrin, H.H., Liss, M., Miles-McLean, H., Geary, K.A., Erchull, M.J., & Tashner, T. (2014). Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23, 548–557. doi:10.1007/s10826-013-9716-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A., & Taylor Murphy, M. (2012). The association between overparenting, parent-child communication, and entitlment and adaptive traits in adult children. Family Relations, 61, 237–254. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00689.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., & Montgomery, N. (2013). Parent and child traits associated with overparenting. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 32, 569–596. doi:dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2013.32.6.569Google Scholar
Solomon, Y., Warin, J., & Lewis, C. (2002). Helping with homework? Homework as a site of tension for parents and teenagers. British Educational Research Journal, 28, 603–622. doi:10.1080/0141192022000005850aCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spokas, M., & Heimberg, R.G. (2009). Overprotective parenting, social anxiety, and external locus of control: Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33, 543–551. doi:10.1007/s10608-008-9227-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, L., Elmen, J.D., & Mounts, N.S. (1989). Authoritative parenting, psychosocial maturity, and academic success among adolescents. Child Development, 60, 1424–1436. doi:10.2307/1130932Google Scholar
Ungar, M. (2009). Overprotective parenting: Helping parents provide the right amount of risk and responsibility. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 37, 258–271. doi:10.1080/01926180802534247Google Scholar
Vinson, K. (2013). Hovering too close: the ramifications of helicopter parenting in higher education. Georgia State University Law Review, 29, 423–452. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1982Google Scholar
Walker, J., & Hoover-Dempsey, K. (2008). Parent involvement. In Good, T. (Ed.), 21st century education: A reference handbook. (pp. II–382–II–392). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/10.4135/9781412964012.n90Google Scholar
Wingard, L., & Forsberg, L. (2009). Parent involvement in children's homework in American and Swedish dual-earner families. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1576–1595. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2007.09.010CrossRefGoogle Scholar