Hovering can hinder transition to adulthood.

• Position: Helicopter Parenting

As thousands of young adults prepare to return to college after the holiday recess, parents may want to examine whether they are kind and supportive or hovering into helicopter parent territory. Parental involvement is crucial to a child's development into an adult, but researchers at Florida State University, Tallahassee, are finding that crossing the line between supportive and too involved indirectly could lead to issues such as depression and anxiety for young adults.

"Helicopter parents are those who are overly involved," says Kayla Reed, doctoral candidate in Marriage and Family Therapy. "They mean everything with good intentions, but it often goes beyond supportive to intervening in the decisions of emerging adults."

In the Journal of Child and Family Studies, Reed and Mallory Greer, assistant professor of family and child sciences, write that what has been called "helicopter parenting" can have a meaningful impact on how young adults see themselves and whether they can meet challenges or handle adverse situations. Though much attention has been paid to the notion of helicopter parenting, most of the studies have focused on adolescents. This study specifically looks at the emerging...