Longitudinal Relations Among Parental Monitoring Strategies, Knowledge, and Adolescent Delinquency in a Racially Diverse At-Risk Sample

Abstract

Parents raising youth in high-risk communities at times rely on active, involved monitoring strategies in order to increase both knowledge about youth activities and the likelihood that adolescents will abstain from problem behavior. Key monitoring literature suggests that some of these active monitoring strategies predict increases in adolescent problem behavior rather than protect against it. However, this literature has studied racially homogenous, low-risk samples, raising questions about generalizability. With a diverse sample of youth (N = 753; 58% male; 46% Black) and families living in high-risk neighborhoods, bidirectional longitudinal relations were examined among three aspects of monitoring (parental discussions of daily activities, parental curfew rules, and adolescent communication with parents), parental knowledge, and youth delinquency. Parental discussion of daily activities was the strongest predictor of parental knowledge, which negatively predicted delinquency. However, these aspects of monitoring did not predict later delinquency. Findings were consistent across gender and race/urbanicity. Results highlight the importance of active and involved parental monitoring strategies in contexts where they are most needed.

Process-based model in adolescence. Analyzing police legitimacy and juvenile delinquency within a legal socialization framework

“…Nonetheless, this is nothing more than a theoretical hypothesis that should be tested in future empirical studies. Additionally, although we do not know whether there is a direct relationship between the two variables, this work confirms that there exists a relationship between reduced parental monitoring and increased juvenile delinquency, as is well known in criminology (Bendezú et al 2016;Stattin and Kerr 2000).…”

Kindergarten antecedents of the developmental course of active and passive parental monitoring strategies during middle childhood and adolescence

“…Our findings therefore suggest that in more at-risk settings, parents may engage in more active parental monitoring strategies consistently over time in order to ensure the safety and well-being of their children (Burton & Jarrett, 2000; Gartstein et al, 2014; Supplee et al, 2007). This interpretation is further supported by findings from analyses with the same sample as was included in the current study (Bendezú et al, 2018), which highlighted the important role of parental discussions in more at-risk contexts. Furthermore, and counter to our hypotheses, we also observed no change in child communication with parents over time.…”

“…Various contextual factors that place these families at-risk (e.g., significant environmental risks, parental employment that keeps them away from the home for many hours/overnight) may mean that parents cannot wait for their children to disclose their activities and whereabouts. A recent study with a racially diverse sample of families living in at-risk neighborhoods (the same sample as described in the current study) indicated that parental discussions of daily activities (an aspect of parental solicitation) was the strongest predictor of parental knowledge as measured in adolescence (i.e., Grades 9 and 10; Bendezú et al, 2018).…”

“…Following established and recent conceptualizations of parental monitoring (e.g., Bendezú et al, 2018;Dishion & McMahon, 1998;Racz & McMahon, 2011;, we encourage future research that examines parental monitoring strategies across different developmental time points with measures that incorporate all aspects of these strategies according to both parent and child report. Drawing from the influential work of Tom Dishion and others (e.g., Capaldi, 2003;Dishion & Stormshak, 2007;Granic, Dishion, & Hollenstein, 2006;Kotchick & Forehand, 2002), we further endorse the need for studies of parenting behaviors and family life to incorporate an ecological perspective on the development of these constructs over time and to take a family-centered approach to interventions with children and parents.…”

“…Stattin and Kerr's seminal work Kerr, Stattin, & Burk, 2010) noted that parental knowledge derives from three sources: (a) parental solicitation, where parents ask children and/or their children's friends for information; (b) parental control, where parents use rules and restrictions to limit their children's ability to engage in activities without informing their parents; and (c) child disclosure, where children freely and openly provide information to their parents about their whereabouts and activities. A recent conceptualization using the same sample as described in the current study (Bendezú, Pinderhughes, Hurley, McMahon, & Racz, 2018) noted that parental solicitation and control encompass more active parental monitoring strategies (i.e., what parents actually do to gather information from their children), whereas child disclosure is a more passive monitoring strategy whereby parents obtain information from their children.…”