Psychological needs and parenting attitudes of family of origin as determinants of helicopter mother attitude

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of psychological needs and experiences in the family of origin on the helicopter parenting attitude of mothers of adolescent children from middle to higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Qualitative research with a phenomenological approach that allows for in-depth inquiry was deemed most appropriate for this study. Therefore, the research was conducted with a sample of eight mothers. The participants were mothers whose children attended secondary school and who belonged to a middle or higher socioeconomic class. The Helicopter Parenting Scale developed by Daşcı (2022), was applied to the mothers and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from eight mothers who exhibited high levels of helicopter parenting. Based on the data analysis, the results were classified into six codes (achievement, dominance, nurturance, affiliation, attachment to family of origin, and separation from family of origin) and two major themes (psychological needs and experiences with family of origin). As a result of the analyzes carried out, it was seen that four psychological needs (achievement, dominance, nurturance and affiliation) were particularly evident on the attitudes of helicopter mothers. It was found that the mothers' parenting style mirrored that of their family of origin, i.e., they showed the same level of self-sacrifice, anxiety, and intrusiveness. It was found that the circumstances in which the differentiation from the family of origin is most evident are those in which the children are given opportunities and the parents are careful to give their offspring the affection and effective communication that they lacked in their own childhood