The Mediating Role of Family Orientation in the Relationship Between Helicopter Parenting and Depression Among Emerging Adults

PENG Guojie; MU Weiqi; LI Fugui; ZHOU Mingjie

doi:10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.225030

2025 , Vol. 8 >Issue 3: 217 - 226

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.225030

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

The Mediating Role of Family Orientation in the Relationship Between Helicopter Parenting and Depression Among Emerging Adults

PENG Guojie ,
MU Weiqi ,
LI Fugui ,
ZHOU Mingjie

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¹Shanghai Communications Polytechnic, Shanghai 200030, China;
²Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
³Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
⁴Department of Military Psychology, Faculty of Medical Psychology, Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University), Chongqing 400038, China

^* ZHOU Mingjie, zhoumj@psych.ac.cn

Online published: 2025-12-10

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Abstract

Objective: The study aims to investigate the impact of parental helicopter parenting congruence and incongruence on the depression of emerging adult offspring, along with the mediating role of family orientation in this relationship.
Methods: Participants were 2 973 university students from Yunnan Province. Measurements were conducted using the Helicopter Parenting Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Family Orientation Subscale extracted from the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Inventory-2 (CPAI-2). Polynomial regression and response surface analysis were employed for the statistical processing of the collected data.
Results: (1) When parents exhibited congruent helicopter parenting, an increase in helicopter parenting intensity was associated with higher levels of depression in emerging adults. Additionally, greater overall helicopter parenting incongruency was linked to higher depression levels in emerging adults. (2) When parents consistently demonstrated either a high or low level of helicopter parenting, emerging adults tended to show lower levels of family orientation. Emerging adults' family orientation significantly diminished as helicopter parenting incongruency increased, with this effect being especially pronounced when mothers exhibited higher helicopter parenting intensity than fathers. (3) Family orientation played a significant mediating role between parental helicopter parenting and emerging adults' depression.
Conclusion: This study broadens the application of family systems theory in parenting research, revealing the impact of parental helicopter parenting congruence and incongruence on the depression of emerging adult offspring. It also highlights the psychological protective value of "family orientation" as a culturally relevant personality trait in the Chinese context, providing a new perspective on the relationship between family dynamics and individual psychological development.

Key words： helicopter parenting; family orientation; depression; response surface analysis

Cite this article

PENG Guojie , MU Weiqi , LI Fugui , ZHOU Mingjie . The Mediating Role of Family Orientation in the Relationship Between Helicopter Parenting and Depression Among Emerging Adults[J]. Psychological Communications, 2025 , 8(3) : 217 -226 . DOI: 10.12100/j.issn.2096-5494.225030

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