Study finds anxiety in university students may be linked to overprotective parents

A new study from McGill University and the University of California (Los Angeles) has found that first-year undergraduates who grew up with overly cautious or controlling parents are more likely to face increased anxiety as they begin post-secondary schooling.

During the first six weeks of the fall semester, 240 first-year students were given several questionnaires, which allowed researchers to measure the parenting style they were raised with, current anxiety symptoms, and different types of stressors they encountered during the transition to university, including housing difficulties, personal loss, or even life-threatening situations.

“Overprotective parenting is a style of parenting that kind of stops kids from making their own choices or making their own decisions or dealing with the consequences of their own actions,” Anna Weinberg, co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychology, as well as Canada Research Chair in Clinical Neuroscience at McGill University.

From the answers to the questionnaires, researchers looked at how the relationship between exposure to stressors and current experiences of anxiety correlated with different parental behaviours.

“We found that students whose parents are very protective experience a stronger link between exposure to stressful events and feelings of anxiety,” explained Lidia Panier, the study’s lead author.

Some students interviewed on Monday said the study reflected their own experiences. One Montrealer shared: “I find myself more anxious about my future than my peers, because I’ve never been taught to learn how to set goals for myself of my life goals.”

Another student added : “When your parents are overprotective at your childhood you are less open to the world when you grow up. You’re more sheltered from new experiences and when you go into university you’re surrounded by a lot of new people, a lot of new like opportunities and you’re just not comfortable.”

A third one reflected on a different upbringing: “I would say so like [my parents] were giving me good freedom […] From a social point of view, it gives you certain skills that others might not have from overprotective parents. Also for time management, maybe, you’re on your own schedules, so you can organize your stuff better.”

Despite this, the study can’t fully admit that overprotective parenting causes anxiety in children, according to the researchers, but they do note that such a conclusion would be consistent with the existing body of research.

“Previous findings show that overprotective parenting leads to insecure attachment and poorer emotion regulation, both of which are linked to greater vulnerability to anxiety,” Panier explained.

But Panier believes overprotective parenting in childhood and adolescence may not be helpful in teaching kids how to adapt to stressful situations — adding that overprotective parenting might be a response to a child’s anxiety, which leads to watchful attitudes and controlling habits from parents.

“These interpretations are not mutually exclusive,” explained Panier. “A bi-directional dynamic where child behaviours influence parenting, which then affects child development, is also well-supported in the literature.”

Adding, “It would be interesting to see if these patterns can change over time, such as whether supportive peer relationships in university can help young adults become more resilient, even if they experienced overprotective parenting,” she said.

“The hope is that studies like this and ours will help parents really understand that our attempts to help our kids can sometimes be counterproductive,” said Weinberg. “Sometimes again, this very natural instinct to save our kids from feeling sadness, fear or distress can actually set them back in the long term.”

The research at McGill University was conducted alongside the University of California (Los Angeles). For more on the study, click here.