Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences.
Williams Institute.
J Fam Psychol. 2022 Oct;36(7):1205-1215. doi: 10.1037/fam0001020. Epub 2022 Jul 21.
Helicopter parents are highly involved parents who hover over and around their child, applying developmentally inappropriate levels of control and tangible assistance. Previous research with different-sex parent families indicates that helicopter parenting is particularly problematic in emerging adulthood as it may indirectly affect the offspring's mental health through their use of emotional avoidant coping. Knowledge is lacking, however, on the antecedents and consequences of helicopter parenting in lesbian-parent families. The present longitudinal, questionnaire-based study investigated the effect of homophobic stigmatization in adolescence on mental health via helicopter parenting and emotional avoidant coping among 76 (37 females and 39 males) National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study 25-year-old offspring of lesbian parents. All participants were cisgender, born in the USA, and conceived through donor sperm, with the majority being White, heterosexual, highly educated, and no longer living with their parents. Parents who reported that their offspring experienced homophobic stigmatization in adolescence were likely to enact higher helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood. Then, higher scores on helicopter parenting were associated with offspring's greater use of emotional avoidant coping, which in turn negatively affected the mental health of emerging adult offspring. Discussed in light of Bowen's family differentiation theory, the results suggest that clinicians should examine helicopter parenting in the context of lesbian parents' developmental history and potential tendency to project their own concerns about safety onto their child in order to reduce the distress of experienced homophobic stigmatization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
直升机父母是高度介入的父母，他们在孩子周围盘旋，对孩子施加过度的控制和有形的帮助。先前对异性恋父母家庭的研究表明，直升机式育儿在成年早期尤其成问题，因为它可能通过子女使用情感回避应对间接影响他们的心理健康。然而，关于同性恋父母家庭中直升机式育儿的前因后果的知识还很缺乏。本纵向问卷调查研究调查了青春期的恐同污名化如何通过直升机式育儿和情感回避应对影响心理健康，该研究共纳入了 76 名（37 名女性和 39 名男性）来自美国的同性恋父母的 25 岁 National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study 子女。所有参与者均为顺性别，出生于美国，通过捐精受孕，大多数为白人，异性恋，接受过高等教育，且不再与父母同住。报告子女在青春期经历过恐同污名化的父母更有可能在成年早期实施更高水平的直升机式育儿。然后，更高的直升机式育儿得分与子女更多地使用情感回避应对相关，而这反过来又对成年早期子女的心理健康产生负面影响。从 Bowen 的家庭分化理论出发，研究结果表明，临床医生应该在考虑到同性恋父母的发展历史和潜在倾向的情况下，检查直升机式育儿，即将自己对安全的担忧投射到孩子身上，以减轻经历过的恐同污名化所带来的痛苦。（PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
