Now, though, what's believed to be the first scholarly research on parents who hover too closely over offspring of any age finds that helicopter parenting appears to cross racial and ethnic lines, as well as socioeconomic status.

The research suggests that most helicoptering is by mothers who are hyper-involved with their sons' lives; fathers are more likely to use strong-arm tactics to get results.

"We estimate that 60% to 70% of parents are involved in some kind of helicoptering behavior," says Patricia Somers, an associate professor of education at the University of Texas-Austin, whose analysis is based on more than 50 interviews with officials from 10 four-year public universities across the USA. She says the helicopter parent is often thought of as from the middle and upper classes, but that's a misconception, her interviews suggest.

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