Parental support and monitoring as associated with adolescent alcohol and tobacco use by gender and age

Abstract

Background Parental support (PS) and parental monitoring (PM) are known protective factors against adolescent substance use (SU). However, little is known about whether PS and PM may affect SU outcomes differently by gender and age. This study examined the relationship between PS and PM and adolescent SU, specifically alcohol and tobacco use, stratified by gender and age group. Methods Middle and high school students (n = 2351, 48.5% Female) completed surveys of self-reported SU, perceived PS and PM, and socioeconomic background. Age group was defined dichotomously as grade 7–8 Middle school and grade 9–10 High school students. PS and PM were each measured using previously validated tools. SU was measured by lifetime and past 30 days cigarette/alcohol use. One-way ANOVA and binary logistic regression models were completed. Odds ratios and means were reported. Results PS and PM were significantly and negatively related to all outcome variables regardless of gender and age group. Mean differences in PS and PM were insignificant between age groups. Between genders, PM scores were significantly higher for girls (14.05) compared to boys (13.48) (p < 0.01). Odds Ratios of all four SU types (for alcohol and tobacco use) increased with higher age group, with ORs ranging from 1.45–2.61 (p < .05). Conclusions PS and PM were protective against SU for all participants, consistent with previous literature. Girls reported greater parental monitoring than boys, irrespective of age-group. While girls experienced higher levels of monitoring, they did not report lower SU than boys. This suggests that monitoring girls more closely than boys appears unnecessary in preventing adolescent SU. Finally, PS was a more significant factor in preventing SU for older adolescents (high school aged group) than for younger adolescents, irrespective of gender suggesting that PS may be more impactful and important as adolescents age. As children mature, particularly from middle school to high school, PS may play a larger role in preventing SU for older adolescents compared to younger ones.

COVID-19 Restrictions and Adolescent Cigarette and E-cigarette Use in California

“…Older adolescents may be less likely to live with and be monitored by parents or guardians and have greater independence, which may lead to increased tobacco and nicotine use opportunities. 33 The young adults aged ≥18 years may also experience more stressors related to work, school, and other responsibilities contributing to increased tobacco use. 34 In addition, being non-Hispanic and White and more compliant with business/retail SIP orders was associated with more days of cigarette use.…”

Caregiver monitoring, but not caregiver warmth, is associated with general cognition in two large sub‐samples of youth

“…Our observation that caregiver monitoring, but not caregiver warmth, was associated with cognition fits with findings in more extreme circumstances that physical neglect more often drives associations with cognitive outcomes than emotional neglect (Dannehl et al., 2017; Vaskinn et al., 2021). Prior work on caregiver monitoring in particular has shown that lower levels of caregiver monitoring are associated with a number of adverse outcomes for youth, including externalizing symptoms (Lac & Crano, 2009; Laird et al., 2009), depressive symptoms (MacPherson et al., 2021) anti‐social behavior (Bacchini et al., 2011; Kim et al., 1999; Pettit et al., 2001), illegal substance and alcohol use (Belintxon et al., 2020; Flannery et al., 1994; Keogh‐Clark et al., 2021; Larm et al., 2018; Mills et al., 2021; Rusby et al., 2018; Sobrino‐piazza et al., 2021), risky sexual activity (DiClemente et al., 2001; Metzler et al., 1994; Romer et al., 1994), and poor academic performance (Crouter et al., 1990; Santiago et al., 2014; Spera, 2005; White & Kaufman, 1997). Importantly, low caregiver monitoring has also been associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts (King et al., 2001), including in the ABCD Study® (Deville et al., 2020), further underscoring the importance of this measure in childhood and adolescence.…”

“…Caregiver monitoring, typically assessed as a caregiver's supervision or regular knowledge of the child's whereabouts, may have particular relevance for the transition to adolescence. Previous studies have shown that caregiver monitoring is inversely related with illegal substance and alcohol use (Belintxon et al., 2020; Flannery et al., 1994; Keogh‐Clark et al., 2021; Larm et al., 2018; Mills et al., 2021; Rusby et al., 2018; Sobrino‐piazza et al., 2021), risky sexual activity (DiClemente et al., 2001; Metzler et al., 1994; Romer et al., 1994), and poor academic performance (Crouter et al., 1990; Santiago et al., 2014; Spera, 2005; White & Kaufman, 1997) in adolescents. Caregiver warmth, typically assessed as a child's perception of their caregiver's emotional supportiveness, has been negatively associated with adolescent binge drinking (Donaldson et al., 2016) and adolescent anger (Cano‐Lozano et al., 2020).…”

Risk and Resilience Pathways, Community Adversity, Decision-making, and Alcohol Use Among Appalachian Adolescents: Protocol for the Longitudinal Young Mountaineer Health Study Cohort

“…Importantly, researchers provide reports back to the schools, which allows them to identify the risk factors and needs for planning interventions and seeking funds for extracurricular and intervention-based activities within the school system. We pilot-tested this system by collecting 3 waves of data on an annual basis (2015-2018) from 16 middle schools in WV [ 40 , 41 ].…”