The reason why parents often treat their adult children like kids is due to a variety of factors which include a desire to maintain control of their adult kids, unresolved emotional issues and even difficulty in adjusting to their child's independence.
Parents treating their adult children like kids can also manifest as continued attempts at offering unsolicited advice, controlling of their child's decisions or even a general reluctance to recognize their adult child's autonomy.
Some parents simply find it hard to let go of the caregiving role they've held so long when taking care of their child and they may simply not want to give up the adult child as their child.
This leads the parents to continue treating their adult child as a child that needs their guidance and protection.
And the shift from a parent-child dynamic to one of an adult equals can also be challenging and some parents struggle to adapt to the new dynamic.
Some parents also feel a need to maintain control over their adult child's life and it can potentially stem from insecurity or a belief which they know what is best.
And in some cases, parents may even feel entitled to dictate their adult child's choices, especially if they've historically been very involved in their lives.
Also parents with a narcissistic personality disorder might treat their adult child as an extension of themselves, needing them to fulfill their emotional needs and desires.
And in some cases parents that experienced emotional deprivation in their own childhood may also unconsciously treat their adult children as a substitute parent figure.