Helicopter parents. Lawnmower parents. Cosseting parents. Whatever you call them, they seem to be everywhere these days.

He’s the parent who proudly helps his son take a science project out of the car, bragging to the other parents that he (i.e., the parent) was up all night working on it. She’s the mother who, at an extended family gathering, listens intently to questions Aunt Sally is asking of her darling girl, then answers them before her daughter has a chance to struggle through a child-appropriate response. He’s the parent who calls his son’s college professor to argue about a D he earned on a paper, instead of allowing the adult child to work it out for himself.

Helicoptering, which in clinical practice some call “overparenting,” is characterized by a parent or guardian “helping” and “supervising” the child so much that the child is insulated from challenges they need to face to grow. Age-appropriate struggle is absolutely essential in a child’s healthy development, and without it, immaturity can settle in that stymies development.

It can be hard for any parent to see the difference between appropriate care and mild helicoptering, especially in today’s world, full of dangers online and in school.

There are some parents, however, whose personality type or background makes them more likely to slip into unhealthy habits and take helicoptering to the extreme.

Anxiety, to various degrees, is a key component of many helicopter parents. Anxiety disorders, which interfere with adult functioning generally, can also compromise good parenting decisions and fuel the engine of a helicopter parent—in fact, anxiety disorders can be almost........

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