The Role of Overprotective Parenting in Emerging Adults' Feeling of Autonomy

The study explores the retrospective recollections of emerging adults' memories of overprotective parental behavior during adolescence. The purpose of the study: to investigate the role of hyper-parenting in experiencing a sense of autonomy. Despite the growing interest in overprotective parenting, in which parents excessively interfere in children's lives and seek to protect them, there is still a lack of qualitative research in this area, as well as works with a Russian sample. The current study used self-determination theory to explain the mechanisms of overprotective parenting behavior, its consequences, and sense of autonomy. The research design includes a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interview. The data was processed using reflexive thematic analysis. The sample consisted of 25 people of emerging adulthood (18-29 years old). As a result, it was possible to identify the manifestations of hyper-parental behavior, as well as to identify changes in the participants' narratives about their perceptions of parental hyper-parental behavior and their own autonomy in two time periods.