Adolescents Growing Up in a "Greenhouse:" A Literature Review

IntroductionThe unique characteristics of adolescents growing up in the new millennium have attracted the attention of generation theorists. Influenced by the impact of globalization and popularity of Internet use, adolescents are brought up in a relatively nurturing and fast-paced society (1, 2). Based on the life course perspectives, adolescents in the new millennium are well nurtured by the "Baby Boomers" generation (born in 1943-1961) and "Generation-X" generation (born from 1961-1980), who are highly involved in their children's lives through parenting, nurturance, support, and monitoring (3). Different terminologies such as "helicopter parenting" (4, 5), "monster parenting," "lawnmower parenting" (6), "Tiger mom and wolf dad" (7), and "Hyper-parenting" (8) have been used to describe the parents who "hover" over their children's lives. Over-parenting has become an emerging parenting style in global and local contexts, and it continuously attracts the attention of the mass media and the public. In Time magazine about "the growing backlash against over-parenting," Gibbs (9) warned of the impacts of over-parenting by stating that "the insanity crept on us slowly, we just wanted what was best for our kids we hovered over school, playground and practice field - 'helicopter parents,' teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions" (9). Inevitably, adolescents growing up in this overprotective and over-nurturing environment develop differently from the previous cohorts. But in fact, there are different and somewhat contradicting adjectives used to describe the unique characteristics of adolescents growing up in the new millennium. While the Millennials are portrayed as special, achieving, confident, sheltered, and conventional rule-followers (10), "Generation ME" adolescents are characterized as egocentric, narcissistic, cynical, and lacking in empathy towards others (11). The phenomenon of over-parenting is amplified in Chinese society where parental control (12) and parental sacrifice (13) are stressed. Moreover, the low birth rate in Hong Kong as well as one-child policy in Mainland China provides an attractive platform for fostering the "4-2-1 indulgence" culture, i.e., four grandparents and two parents spoiling one child (14). The popularity of employing foreign domestic helpers to take up childcare work in Hong Kong further cultivates a "greenhouse" for nurturing the "little emperors" in the family (15). The adolescents growing up in the overprotective and over-nurtured environment have been labeled as the "spoilt generation" who are "unable to look after themselves, have low emotional quotient and even lower adversity quotient" (16). Despite the fact that "overprotective parents" and "spoiled kids" are extensively revealed in the popular media, scientific research on understanding the phenomenon is grossly neglected in the social science literature. In this paper, the literature related to "overp-arenting" is examined. The impacts of over-parenting on adolescent psychosocial development are reviewed. Conceptual and methodological gaps in the literature are highlighted, and directions for future family and adolescent research and practice are suggested.Building a Greenhouse for KidsParents nowadays "do more" for their kids in order to protect them from risk and harm, and "equip" them for a better future. Over-parenting is generally defined as "developmentally inappropriate parenting that is driven by parents' overzealous desires to ensure the success and happiness of their children, typically in a way that is construed largely in the parents' terms, and to remove any perceived obstacles to those positive outcomes" (17). Segrin et al. (17, 18) further identified four dimensions of over-parenting, including (a) anticipatory problem solving and risk aversion, (b) excessive advice and affective involvement with children, (c) control over children's self-direction, and (d) provision of abundant tangible assistance. …