The relationship between helicopter parenting and social emotional learning (SEL)

Parenting styles play a vital role in children’s development. Research suggests an overinvolved parenting style (helicopter parenting) is negatively associated with children’s overall well-being. Parenting style has important implications for the development of children’s social and emotional learning (SEL). However, there is no clear indication of the association between helicopter parenting and SEL abilities in children. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between helicopter parenting and SEL in children ages 6 to 11. A correlational design assessed the relationship between helicopter parenting and SEL. Results indicated a negative correlation between helicopter parenting and SEL in children ages 6 to 11. This suggests that as helicopter parenting increases, SEL decreases. More research is needed to evaluate how targeted behavioral parent training can affect helicopter parenting behaviors.