Assessing the psychometric properties of mother and father forms of the helicopter parenting behaviors questionnaire in a Turkish sample

Abstract

Helicopter parenting is defined as the behaviors of parents that include over-responsibility, control, and protection towards the life of their children. Helicopter parenting is a relatively new phenomenon in the literature and has a significant role in the lives of adolescents and emerging adults. Therefore, several self-reports assessing helicopter parenting have been developed and tested recently. One of these self-reports, the Helicopter Parenting Behaviors Questionnaire (HPBQ), was developed by Schiffrin et al. (2014) to evaluate perceived helicopter parenting and autonomy supportive behaviors of mothers. The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the HPBQ. The scale was also adapted separately for assessing perceived maternal and paternal helicopter parenting behaviors in the Turkish sample. Three hundred twenty-four college students (Nfemale = 165, Nmale = 157), aged between 17 and 27 years (M = 20.57, SD = 1.99), filled in HPBQ - Mother and Father Forms, Helicopter Parenting Instrument (HPI), Behavioral Control Scale-Youth Self Report (BCS-YSR), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). Results showed that the original two-factor structure (helicopter parenting and autonomy supportive behaviors) of the Mother and Father Forms of HPBQ are supported, and independent confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) indicated that the two-factor structure of the questionnaire fits the data reasonably well. The Turkish version of HPBQ demonstrated convergent and divergent validity, as well as satisfactory internal consistency. The two forms of the questionnaire allow us to evaluate differences between maternal and paternal parenting styles in helicopter parenting and conduct cross-cultural research.