Abstract
Research on indulgent parenting and its relation to college students is both limited and inconsistent. Further, all the studies have used a variable-centered approach. To fill the gap in the current literature, the aims of this study were to explore profiles of parental indulgence and their associations with college students’ emotional and behavioral problems. The sample in this study consisted of college students from two universities. Participants were asked to take an online survey about their perceptions of their parents’ indulgent parenting practice and their own well-being. Results from latent profile analyses suggested distinct profiles of parental indulgence for mothers and fathers. Further, these profiles demonstrated differential associations with college students’ anxiety and depressive symptoms, emotional dysregulation, and alcohol use. Implications were also noted.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akaike, H. (1974). A new look at the statistical model identification. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 19, 716–723. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.1974.1100705.
Arnett, J. J., & Taber, S. (1994). Adolescence terminable and interminable: When does adolescence end? Journal of Youth and adolescence, 23, 517–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537734.
Bahr, S. J., & Hoffman, J. P. (2010). Parenting style, religiosity, peers, and adolescent heavy drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and drugs, 4, 539–543. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2010.71.539.
Baumrind, D. (1967). Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43–88.
Bayer, J. K., Sanson, A. V., & Hemphill, S. A. (2006). Parent influences on early childhood internalizing difficulties. Journal of Applied developmental Psychology, 27, 542–559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2006.08.002.
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of consulting and Clinical Psychology, 6, 893–897. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.56.6.893.
Bem, S. L. (1981). Bem sex role inventory: Professional manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. doi: 10.1037/t00748-000.
Bredehoft, D. J., & Walcheski, M. J. (2008). Overindulgence: Parental overindulgence Assessment Scale (1.2). St. Paul, MN: Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Concordia University.
Brody, G. H., & Ge, X. (2001). Linking parenting processes and self-regulation to psychological functioning and alcohol use during early adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 82–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.1.82.
Buri, J. R. (1991). Parental Authority Questionnaires. Journal of personality Assessment, 57, 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_13.
Chen, X., Liu, M., & Li, D. (2000). Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 401–419. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.14.3.401.
Child Trend. (2012). Young adult depression. http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=young-adult-depression
Clark, S., & Muthén, B. (2009). Relating latent class analysis results to variables not included in the analysis. https://www.statmodel.com/download/relatinglca.pdf
Clarke, J. I., Dawson, C., & Bredehoft, D. (2014). How much is too much? Boston: De Capo Press.
Cohen, E., & Lwow, E. (2004). The parent-child mutual recognition model: Promoting responsibility and cooperativeness in disturbed adolescents who resist treatment. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 14, 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1037/1053-0479.14.3.307.
Cui, M. (2014). Overmothering. In L. Ganong, M. Coleman, J. G. Golson (Eds.) The social history of the American family. Vol. 15 (pp. 984–986). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452286143.n400.
Cui, M., Graber, J., Metz, A., & Darling, C. (2016). Parental indulgence, self-regulation, and young adults’ behavioral and emotional problems. Journal of Family Studies. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2016.1237884.
Cui, M., Lorenz, F. O., Conger, R. D., Melby, J. N., & Bryant, C. M. (2005). Observer, self, and partner reports of hostile behaviors in romantic relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1169–1181. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00208.x.
DiPrete, T., & Eirich, G. (2006). Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: A review of theoretical and empirical developments. Annual Review of Sociology, 32, 271 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.32.061604.123127.
Dishion, T. J., & McMahon, R. J. (1998). Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: A conceptual and empirical formulation. Clinical Child and family Psychology Review, 1, 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021800432380.
Driscoll, A. K., Russell, S. T., & Crockett, L. J. (2008). Parenting styles and youth well-being across immigrant generations. Journal of family issues, 29, 185–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X07307843.
Eccles, J., & Gootman, J. A. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences Education, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: Sage.
Fletcher, A., Steinberg, L., & Sellers, E. (1999). Adolescents’ well-being as a function of perceived interparental consistency. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 599–610. https://doi.org/10.2307/353563.
Gar, N. S., & Hudson, J. L. (2008). An examination of the interactions between mothers and children with anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1266–1274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.08.006.
Grolnick, W. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2009). Issues and challenges in studying parental control: Toward a new conceptualization. Child Development Perspectives, 3, 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00099.x.
Heaven, P. C. L., & Ciarrochi, J. V. (2009). Parental styles, conscientiousness, and academic performance in high school: a three-wave longitudinal study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 451–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207311909.
Kindlon, D. (2001). Too much of a good thing. New York: Hyperion.
LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum, 31, 399–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2011.574038.
Lo, Y., Mendell, N., & Rubin, D. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88, 767–778. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020077.
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). In Parent-child interaction. In P. H. Mussen, & E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1–101). New York: Wiley. .
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1996–2012). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén. .
Parker, G. (1983). Parental overprotection: A risk factor in psychosocial development. New York: Grune & Stratton.
Patock-Peckham, J. A., & Morgan-Lopez, A. A. (2006). College drinking behaviors: Mediational links between parenting styles, impulse control, and alcohol-related outcomes. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20, 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-164X.20.2.117.
Pugh, A. (2009). Longing and belonging parents, children and consumer culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306.
Ramaswamy, V., DeSarbo, W. S., Reibstein, D. J., & Robinson, W. T. (1993). An empirical pooling approach for estimating marketing mix elasticities with PIMS data. Marketing Science, 12, 103–124. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.12.1.103.
Reed, K., Duncan, J., Lucier-Greer, M., Fixelle, C., & Ferraro, A. J. (2016). Helicopter parenting and emerging adult self-efficacy: Implications for mental and physical health. Journal of Child and family Studies, 25, 3136–3149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0466-x.
Rehm, M., Darling, C., Coccia, C., & Cui, M. (2016). Parents’ perspectives on indulgence: Remembered experiences and meanings when they were adolescents and as current parents of adolescents. Journal of Family Studies, 23, 278–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2015.1106335.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1086/209304.
Roche, K. M., Ensminger, M. E., & Cherlin, A. J. (2007). Variations in parenting and adolescent outcomes among African American and Latino families living in low-income, urban areas. Journal of family issues, 28, 882–909. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X07299617.
Roesch, S. C., Villodas, M., & Villodas, F. (2010). Latent class/profile analysis in maltreatment research: A commentary on Nooner et al., Pears et al., and looking beyond. Child abuse & Neglect, 34, 155–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.01.003.
Schulenberg, J. E., Sameroff, A. J., & Cicchetti, D. (2004). The transition to adulthood as a critical juncture in the course of psychopathology and mental health. Development and psychopathology, 16, 799–806. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579404040015.
Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6, 461–464. https://doi.org/10.2307/2958889.
Sclove, S. L. (1987). Application of model-selection criteria to some problems in multivariate analysis. Psychometrika, 52, 333–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02294360.
Sharma, M., Sharma, N., & Yadava, A. (2011). Parental styles and depression among adolescents. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 37, 60–68.
Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Darling, N., Mounts, N. S., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1994). Over-time changes in adjustment and competence among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development, 65, 754–770. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131416.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2013). Health, United States, 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus13.pdf#060
Victor, S. E., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). Validation of a brief version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18) in five samples. Journal of psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38, 582–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9547-9.
Vinson, K. E. (2013). Hovering too close: The ramifications of helicopter parenting in higher education. Georgia State University law Review, 29, 423–451. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1982763.
Wechsler, H., & Nelson, T. F. (2008). What we have learned from the Harvard School of Public Health college alcohol survey: Focusing attention on college student alcohol consumption and the environmental conditions that promote it. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and drugs, 69, 481–490. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2008.69.481.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by a grant from the National Council on Family Relations Innovation Grant Program. Opinions, findings, conclusion or recommendations expressed within this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Council on Family Relations.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Council on Family Relations Innovation Grant Program.
Author Contributions
M.C.: designed and executed the study, performed data analyses, and wrote the manuscript. C.A.D.: collaborated with the design of the study and editing of the manuscript. M.L.G.: assisted with the data analyses and manuscript editing. F.D.F.: collaborated in the editing of the manuscript. R.W.M.: assisted with data collection and editing of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in this study involving human subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Florida State University.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cui, M., Darling, C.A., Lucier-Greer, M. et al. Parental Indulgence: Profiles and Relations to College Students’ Emotional and Behavioral Problems. J Child Fam Stud 27, 2456–2466 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1076-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1076-6