A new scientific article by SAFE-SORRY has just been published! It discusses parental overprotection in relation to the societal context, which can cause parents to fear for their children and fuel a perception of the world as dangerous for their teenagers.

In this study conducted in Switzerland among 320 parents of teenagers aged 16 on average, we assessed parents’ threat beliefs and family dynamics related to overprotection. The results show that parental overprotection is associated with a perception of the world as dangerous and threatening among both mothers and fathers. Furthermore, the results show the effects of the partner, i.e., mothers’ perceptions are also associated with fathers’ overprotection (beyond the direct effect of fathers’ perceptions). The same is true for mothers’ overprotection, which is associated with fathers’ perceptions (beyond the effect of their own perceptions). Finally, we also identified a negative link between overprotection and parental mindfulness, as well as a positive link between parental anxiety and overprotection, the latter confirming what other studies had already shown.

You can read the article here.