A Person-Centered Study on Parental Responsiveness and Overprotection: Associations With Socio-Economic Pressures

Abundant research documented the importance of the quality of parenting, with responsive parenting typically being associated with better youth cognitive, psychological, and social development outcomes and overprotective parenting being related to developmental difficulties. At the same time, it is essential to consider how excessively high parenting standards and economic pressures can affect the parenting practices that parents may adopt. Using a person-centered approach, this study aims to analyse the parenting practices of Italian parents based on their responsiveness and overprotection. It also aims to explore how these parenting practices are linked to the socio-economic pressures faced by parents, in terms of perceived social pressure to be a perfect parent, financial scarcity, and perceived job insecurity at the national level. Finally, the study aims to examine regional differences (Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy) and gender differences (mothers vs. fathers). The sample consisted of 681 Italian parents ( M age = 51.07 years; 406 mothers and 275 fathers) of adolescents. By implementing a hierarchical k -means cluster analysis, we identified four parenting clusters, with combinations of high and low levels of responsiveness and overprotection. Subsequent analyses revealed significant between-cluster differences for each of the socioeconomic pressures, where those in the cluster “High responsiveness-high overprotection” reported particularly elevated levels of socioeconomic pressures. In terms of regional differences, Southern Italian parents were over-represented in the “High responsiveness-high overprotection” cluster, whereas Northern Italian parents were over-represented in the “Low responsiveness-low overprotection” cluster. We did not find evidence for gender differences. These results suggest that it is essential for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to consider the broader socioeconomic context in which families are embedded. From an applied perspective, our results provide suggestions to tailor interventions to specific local circumstances, marked by unique sociocultural and economic realities.