When a parent tries too hard – excessive focus on the child in terms of Bowen's theory and their mental well-being

Abstract

Providing a child with a sense of psychological well-being is one of the most important goals for which most parents’ educational activities are directed. In the social sphere, the conviction that achieving this goal requires the involvement of a large part of the parent’s activity and attention in the relationship with the child seems to dominate. Although this belief is fully justified and has been repeatedly confirmed on empirical grounds, it may carry the risk of parents’ excessive concentration on the child’s functioning in relation to the child’s needs. Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory drew attention to such a family pattern and its negative impact on the child’s mental health. The aim of this article is to discuss the mechanism of parents’ excessive concentration on the child based on Bowen’s Theory and to present the existing empirical reports indicating its importance for a positive approach to health understood in terms of mental well-being. The problem under consideration is of great application importance, which was emphasized in the final part of the text.