A good parent is not always the parent who does everything, every time for his/her child: A Study to Develop Helicopter Parent Attitude/s Scale (HPAS)

Abstract

The concept of helicopter parents has a history of 30 years. This child growing attitude shows itself as effort of parents to gain control on their child, exaggerated hastiness to prevent any possible damage or failure that can be happen to their child even that there is no perceptible reasons and with self-denying beyond the child’s needs. The aim of this research is to produce valid and reliable tool that can measure perceived parental attitude, ethical subjects at mother and father level, trust- basic life, academical life and emotional life dimensions. The sample of the study consisted of 2020 participants in the 13-45 age group. AFA, CFA and internal consistency coefficients were calculated on the data and correlation coefficients were found to test the compliance validity. Fit indices of mother form of scale was calculated as   χ2/sd= 10,05, RMSEA=0,07, SRMR=0,054, CFI=0,95, NFI=0,94, NNFI= 0,94, GFI=0,91, AGFI=0,90; and for the father form of scale was calculated as; χ2/sd=5,51, RMSEA=0,050, SRMR=0,045, CFI=0,96, NFI=0,95, NNFI=0,95, GFI=0,95, AGFI=0,94 . The internal consistency coefficients are .85 and .83.   In addition, the compliance validity data tested with two separate tools were found sufficient for both forms and four dimensions. Developed scale has the qualifications that can determine the helicopter attitudes of parents at mother and father level by researchers, educators, child development specialists.