--- description: Helicopter parenting is detrimental no matter how loving the parents might be, a new Brigham Young University study finds. title: Here's Why You Need to Stop Being a Helicopter Parent image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c446291472e0c0b/69885287e20a87dc9ca8ba26/153095947.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Helicopter Parenting' Hurts Kids Regardless of Love or Support, Study Says by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2015 6:13 AM CUT  mother and son mother and sonGetty Images by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 2, 2015 6:13 AM CUT So-called “helicopter parenting” is detrimental to children no matter how loving the parents might be, a [new study](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150601172933.htm "undefined") by professors at Brigham Young University (BYU) finds. The study, a follow up to 2012 research that suggested children of such controlling parents are less engaged in the classroom, surveyed 483 students from four American universities on their parents’ behavior and their own self-esteem and academics, Science Daily reports. This time, researchers explored whether characteristics such as support and warmth might neutralize the negative effects of helicopter parenting. Not only did the study conclude that they do not, but it also suggested that lack of warmth can take the situation from bad to worse, amplifying low self-esteem and high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking. For the purposes of the study, researchers defined “helicopter parenting” as including such over-involved habits such as solving children’s problems and making important decisions for them, while warmth was measured in terms of availability to talk and spending quality time. The study contradicts popular parenting philosophies, such as the one espoused in the 2011 bestseller _Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother_. “From our past work, we thought there might be something positive about helicopter parenting under certain conditions, but we’re just not finding it,” study author Larry Nelson told Science Daily. Instead, while the data indicated that warmth reduced the negative effects of controlling parenting, it did not nullify them completely. “Overall, stepping in and doing for a child what the child developmentally should be doing for him or herself, is negative,” Nelson said. \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150601172933.htm "undefined")\] ### See the Funniest and Weirdest Baby Photos  Shot for TIME, 2015 Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Shot for TIME, 2015 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka for TIME  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Shot for Huggies, 2011 Evan Kafka  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Photo-illustration by Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2011 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  Personal work, 2009 Evan Kafka—Getty Images  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3904527/helicopter-parent-study-controlling-students-kids-children/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3904527/helicopter-parent-study-controlling-students-kids-children/"},"headline":"'Helicopter Parenting' Hurts Kids Regardless of Love or Support, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-06-02T06:13:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:31.792Z","description":"Sorry, Tiger Moms","url":"https://time.com/3904527/helicopter-parent-study-controlling-students-kids-children/","keywords":["Living","Parenting","Children","behavior","Family","kids","photography","Students","risk","universities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c446291472e0c0b/69885287e20a87dc9ca8ba26/153095947.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c446291472e0c0b/69885287e20a87dc9ca8ba26/153095947.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"153095947","caption":"153095947","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3904527/helicopter-parent-study-controlling-students-kids-children/","name":"'Helicopter Parenting' Hurts Kids Regardless of Love or Support, Study Says"}}]}] ```