Tag: hschiffr

Miles-McLean, H., Schiffrin, H. H., Liss, M., *Geary, K., *Tashner, T., *Rizzo, K., & Erchull, M. J. (2013, May). Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting and autonomy support on college students’ mental health. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. NOTE:  There were several other faculty at […]

Associate Professors of Psychology Miriam Liss and Holly Schiffrin’s study “Helping or Hovering? The Effects of Helicopter Parenting on College Students’ Well-Being” examines the impact over-controlling parents have on college students.

The study, published in Springer’s Journal of Child and Family Studies, shows that college students who have “helicopter parents” are more likely to be depressed and less satisfied with their lives. This type of parenting negatively affects students’ well-being by infringing on their need to feel both autonomous and competent.

Articles and segments about the study have appeared in national and international outlets, including Reuters, CBS, WTOP, and The Daily Mail (U.K.).

Associate Professor of Psychology Mindy Erchull, Haley Miles-McLean ’13, Katherine A. Geary ’12 and Taryn Tashner ’12 also contributed to the study.

Associate Professors of Psychology Miriam Liss and Holly Schiffrin’s research article “Maternal Guilt and Shame: The Role of Self-Discrepancy and Fear of Negative Evaluation” appears in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, published online on Oct. 19, 2012. Liss and Schiffrin co-wrote the article with Kathryn Rizzo ’12.  The study shows mothers who compare themselves to other mothers and fear that others are judging and evaluating them experience the emotions of both guilt and shame – emotions that have been shown to lead to negative mental health consequences.