CAN SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS EXPLAIN PARENTAL OVERPROTECTION?

Background: Parental overprotection is a form of overparenting, parental behaviour that is not developmentally appropriate for the child's age.It may include the following: excessive physical and social contact from the parent, an exaggerated fear for the child, a tendency to protect them from minor dangers, and solving problems on their behalf.Factors predicting this behaviour are not well explored yet.Aim: This paper aims to determine whether socio-demographic factors (gender, age, marital status, education, monthly income, living area, and number of children) can predict parental overprotection.Methods: The participants of this study consisted of 738 parents (mean age 46.4,80.42% female).Multiple regression analysis between parental overprotection and seven socio-demographic factors was conducted using Jamovi software.Results: Out of the seven variables, two were statistically significanteducation (p = .006)and monthly household income (p = .029).Therefore, it can be expected that a lower level of education, as well as a lower average monthly household income, is associated with a higher level of overprotection.The regression model explained 4.6% of the variance of the dependent variable.The observed sociodemographic variables are only slightly related.