Overprotective Parenting: Examining pressures to be perfect, social media comparisons, world instability and parent anxiety

ABSTRACT Background and Objectives Overprotective parenting (OP) is defined as parents' inclination to take over children's tasks, overinvolvement in children's self‐direction and decision‐making, and interfering in age‐appropriate autonomy. Past studies have focused on impacts of OP on child mental health and well‐being, but few have considered what social circumstances could produce parents' OP. The aim of the current study was to investigate parents' perceptions of world scarcity and instability, perceived societal pressures related to parenting, and comparisons on social media as correlates of OP, considering direct and indirect (via parents' anxiety) associations. A secondary aim was to explore whether associations differed for mothers and fathers. Method Australian parents ( N = 909; 67% mothers) of an adolescent aged 16 to 19 years completed an online survey. Results In a latent‐variable structural equation model, OP was explained by perceived world threat and upward comparisons on social media; these associations were mostly direct but were partially mediated by parents' anxiety. Perceived world threat and social comparisons had moderate and large, respectively, direct associations with parents' elevated anxiety, resulting in significant indirect associations of societal pressures on OP via parents' anxiety. Parent gender moderated four model paths—one involving parents' anxiety and three involving OP. Most notable were a positive association of fathers' (but not mothers') anxiety with OP, and a positive association of world threat with mothers' (but not fathers') OP. Conclusion For those who interact with parents, such as teachers or support providers, it is important to be aware that OP could be a reaction to societal and social media pressures. Implications Overall, these findings indicate that reducing parents' anxiety and addressing social comparison and pressure, particularly in gender‐sensitive ways, may help mitigate overprotective parenting in the context of perceived world threats.