Spoiled kids? Your parenting could be to blame

PHOENIX — If your child feels a sense of entitlement or is spoiled, your parenting style might be the reason why.

“For a long time, we’ve studied what some people would call a Hover Mother, or parents who are too overprotective or too involved in children’s lives,” said Phoenix Clinical Psychologist Dr. Melissa Estavillo.

While it can comes from a well-intentioned place, there could be some detrimental effects.

“Primarily, we see a greater sense of anxiety in children,” said Estavillo. “Often times, kids feel like they don’t have the autonomy, so they are not able to accomplish things the way their siblings or peers are able to, along with that comes a greater sense of self-doubt.”

While it is very important to be involved in children’s lives, you must allow them to fail and learn from their mistakes.

“As hard as it is to see, the consequences for their mistakes are much smaller now than later on in life when they can be more detrimental,” said Estavillo.