Helicopter Parenting and Narcissistic traits in Young Adults of Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the perception of helicopter parenting of mothers and narcissistic traits.  350 undergraduate students were randomly selected from Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta. Pautler’s (2017) helicopter parenting and Pincus et al. (2009) pathological narcissism formed the questionnaire to elicit responses from the participants. Data collected were analysed for univariate and bivariate findings. The findings revealed 15.8% of the participants had a high perception of their mothers as a helicopter parent. Demographic characteristics of participants such as age, number of siblings, living arrangements and educational status of mothers had a significant relationship (p < 0.05) with perceived helicopter mothers. However, there was a significant relationship between vulnerable narcissism and the perceived helicopter parenting of mothers. The perception of youth on mothers’ helicopter parenting style was associated with age, number of siblings living arrangements and mother’s occupation respectively. Thus, there is a need for further study on fathers’ helicopter parenting style and how this can influence narcissism among young adults.