Parental monitoring and adolescent problem behaviors How much do we really know?

This article aims to provide a critical analysis of how much we know about the effectiveness of parental monitoring in preventing adolescent delinquency. First, it describes the historical developments in parental monitoring research. Second, it explains why it is uncertain whether causal inferences...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of behavioral development Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 271 - 281
Main Author Keijsers, Loes
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.05.2016
Subjects
Adolescents
Attribution Theory
Behavior Problems
Child Rearing
Correlation
Delinquency
Disclosure
Inferences
Maximum Likelihood Statistics
Prevention
Statistical Analysis
cross-lagged model
parental solicitation
adolescent disclosure
Parental monitoring
longitudinal
parental control
within-person
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Summary:This article aims to provide a critical analysis of how much we know about the effectiveness of parental monitoring in preventing adolescent delinquency. First, it describes the historical developments in parental monitoring research. Second, it explains why it is uncertain whether causal inferences can be drawn from contemporary research findings on the link of parenting and adolescent problem behaviors. Third, it is empirically demonstrated, using Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Models, how distinguishing between-person and within-person associations may alter or strengthen conclusions regarding the links of parental monitoring and adolescent disclosure with adolescent delinquency. Previously detected correlations between parental monitoring and adolescent delinquency were not present at the within-family level. However, there were significant associations between within-person fluctuations in disclosure and delinquency. Together, these models provide stronger evidence for a potential causal link between disclosure and delinquency, but also suggest that previously detected linkages of parental monitoring and delinquency can be explained by stable between-person differences rather than causal processes operating within families.
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ISSN:0165-0254
1464-0651
DOI:10.1177/0165025415592515