Overprotection or Coddling

A developmental environment where a child’s autonomy, risk-taking, or independent problem-solving was consistently limited by excessive protection, intervention, or reassurance. Caregivers may have acted with good intentions but communicated—implicitly or explicitly—that the world was dangerous or that the child could not cope on their own. Over time, this can shape difficulty trusting personal capacity, heightened anxiety around decision-making, avoidance of challenge, and reliance on others for regulation or direction.