Eaton studies issues surrounding parent-child interactions

With all the extracurricular activities and organized sporting events that children are involved in today, parents seem to be more a part of their children's lives than ever before. So, at what point may parents be crossing the line between normal involvement in their children's lives and being over-controlling?

Missa Murry Eaton, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State Shenango, has been researching and studying groups of children and their parents on parenting for the past decade. According to Eaton, "When parents begin basing their own self-worth on the accomplishments of their children, their relationships with their children and their own mental well-being tends to suffer."

Through her research, which includes the study of parent-child interactions, the strategies parents choose, and autonomy granting, one identifying marker which Eaton has discovered is parental contingent self-worth, the basing of parents' self-worth on the successes and failures of their children. "All parents want their children to succeed," Eaton said. "What parents need to ask themselves, however, is 'Do I want my child to succeed for them, or do I need my child to succeed for me?'"

Eaton also has found that children whose parents experience parental contingent self-worth report that they have more conflict with their parents, less attachment to their parents and are motivated to achieve for external reasons. "In many ways, parents who feel this parental self-worth are keeping their children from feeling the independence that they need to become strong adults," Eaton said. Additionally, these same parents show more symptomology of anxiety and depression. The bottom line message according to Eaton is this, "When parents own self-concept is overly enmeshed with their children, there are negative consequences for both the children and the parents."

Over the last year, Eaton has been contacted by several reporters to give her expertise in this field. She was first contacted by the Wall Street Journal after she had presented a paper at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting. From this interview, reporters from various media have become very interested in Eaton's research. She has been interviewed by and quoted in Health Magazine, The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe and on radio news talk shows out of Houston and Cleveland. Most recently, she was quoted in the May 22 issue of Newsweek. "One of the reasons I believe I am being contacted on parenting is that our society is realizing that there are consequences to being a parent," Eaton said.

Eaton's current research is on whether parental contingent self-worth is related to children's development of perfectionism and their over-concern with pleasing their parents. Her next study, which will involve senior high school students and their parents, will examine the concerns that parents and children have as the child makes the transition to college.

For more information on her research, contact Eaton at mae14@psu.edu via e-mail.