Hyperparenting: How Overprotection Affects Children
There is an antagonistic tendency towards parents who are unconcerned about their children. This is known as hyperparenting, a form of overprotection that can affect children as much or more than the lack of affection and attention.
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These are complex situations in which suffocation can occur and psychological pathologies can arise that affect minors in their adult stage. For this reason, it is important to know everything in detail about this topic and we will help you with that on this occasion.What is hyperparenting?
Hyperparenting is the term used to describe the tendency of parents to give their children extreme or excessive attention, which also involves surveillance and control practices that can be extremely invasive.
Hyperparenting is a situation in which parents become overly involved in their children’s lives, wanting to solve all of their children’s problems, disrupting their ability to do so themselves.
Typically, these types of parents tend to see their children as beings that must be protected at all costs so that nothing bad happens to them, depriving them of their individuality and the ability to create their own life experiences and problem-solving.
Although there is a good intention behind all this, it often has negative results for people after they enter adulthood; therefore, it is necessary to recognize the signs and avoid falling into this type of behavior. (We also recommend reading: Tips to discover and develop your children’s artistic abilities with Music Classes )
What are the characteristics of hyperparenting?
There are usually certain traits or patterns of behavior in parents towards their children that give them away in these circumstances. Some of these are the following:
Excessive overprotection
This is a common characteristic of hyperparenting, referring to parents who tend to be overprotective in a continuous and excessive way.
This makes them take charge of each of their children’s problems, depriving them of making their own decisions and even influencing them at all times to the point of dominating them without restraint. This is usually a symptom that harms children in the long term. ( Also Read: ChildFree: An Increasingly Popular School of Thought )
Keep a constant eye on your children
Although it may not sound like a bad thing, parents with hyperparenting patterns tend to be overly aware of their children, leaving aside any type of privacy and being aware of their children’s movements and everything they do.
This can lead to paranoia in children and long-term depressive behavior, which can also affect their personal relationships, so it is necessary to distinguish the fine line between healthy and obsessive attention.
They continually keep their children busy
Another characteristic that reveals this type of parents is the tendency to constantly involve them in extracurricular activities, leaving them with practically no time for leisure and development as children or adolescents, with the excuse of being able to help them in their future.
However, this high workload can have psychological consequences such as anxiety or depression in adulthood.
How does hyperparenting affect children?
Typically, this type of excessive overprotection often brings negative consequences for the children of this type of parents. This is often seen in the behavior they develop as they are oppressed from their own wills; some of the ways in which they are affected are the following:
Insecurity
Children with overprotective parents often develop constant insecurities throughout their growth, this can influence both their confidence and their dealings with other people. Many times this forms adults with low self-esteem and behavioral problems. For this reason, it is important not to overload children at their earliest ages, and allow them to explore their problem-solving abilities. (You may also be interested in: Demanding children: characteristics and how to avoid raising demanding children )
Episodes of stress and anxiety
Another consequence of hyperparenting is the psychological effects it causes in children. This type of behavior can cause deep stress derived from the impossibility of being able to experiment and, in the worst cases, anxiety; as they are forced to constantly comply with the demands of their parents. This can eventually turn into depression, so it is important to finally seek professional help.
Low tolerance capacity
Children affected by this tendency often suffer from low tolerance for frustration and negative things, since their parents usually intervene to solve everything for them so that they do not feel any kind of stress. However, doing this in the long run causes the same effects and with worse consequences in social development as an adult.
It is more important to maintain a healthy relationship with children
Once the causes and effects of hyperparenting are known, it is necessary to highlight the importance of always having a balanced relationship between parents and children, of mutual respect and trust, which guarantees their healthy development in life and society so that they can become independent adults with the basic tools necessary to develop and avoid any type of psychological conflict in the long term.
It is not about neglecting children, but rather about giving them the freedom to experience for themselves the consequences of their own actions, so that they know how to react to various situations that are inevitable in adult life.
