Emerging Adults' Perceptions of Mothers and Fathers
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Date
2025-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Emerging adulthood, defined as a period of distinct development from ages 18 to 25, is a period of developmentally appropriate instability that allows individuals to make key transitions in their lives and prepare for adulthood. Parents can either help or hinder this process depending upon how their interactions with their children are perceived. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate and compare emerging adults’ perceptions of their interactions and relationships with their mothers and fathers. The sample included 475 individuals aged 18-25 from The Ohio State University’s Psychology Department Research Experience Pool. Emerging adults completed a survey via Qualtrics software which measured their perceptions of overparenting, parental involvement, parenting behavior, digital interactions, and relationship satisfaction for each parent. A subsample of 45 participants completed a semi-structured interview and answered open-ended questions about their interactions and relationships with their mothers and fathers. Correlation analysis yielded several statistically significant results. When emerging adults reported greater maternal overparenting, they reported lower relationship satisfaction with both mothers and fathers and vice versa. However, paired t-tests indicated that overparenting, parental involvement, parenting behavior, digital interactions, and relationship satisfaction were higher for mothers than fathers. Parental involvement and relationship satisfaction were positively correlated but had a weaker correlation for mothers than fathers. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data indicated that emerging adults were more likely to seek out their mothers for emotional support whereas fathers were sought out for financial and career support. Even in half the cases where mothers were described as disciplinarians (i.e., more likely to set and apply rules), participants still described turning to their mothers for emotional support. In contrast, relationships with fathers were more frequently described as superficial with interactions centered around discussing routine topics. Furthermore, the transition to college was perceived as improving the mother-child relationship. Taken together, these findings suggest that emerging adults have differing expectations and perceptions of their relationships with mothers and fathers that align with traditional gender roles.
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Keywords
Overparenting, Helicopter parenting, Emerging adults, Parent-child relationship satisfaction