Is Parental Knowledge of their Adolescent Offspring’s Whereabouts and Peer Associations Spuriously Associated with Offspring Delinquency?

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that most of what parents know about their adolescent offspring's whereabouts and companions is the result of youth disclosure, rather than information gained through active parental monitoring. This raises the possibility that parental knowledge is spuriously correlated with youth delinquency solely because the most delinquent youth disclose the least information to parents (because they have the most to hide). We tested this spurious association hypothesis using prospective data on offspring of a nationally representative sample of US women, controlling demographic and contextual covariates. In separate analyses, greater parental knowledge of their offspring's peer associations at both 12-13 years and at 14-15 years was associated with lower odds of being in the top 1 standard deviation of youth-reported delinquency at 16-17 years, controlling for delinquency at the earlier ages. The extent to which parents set limits on activities with peers at 14-15 years did not mediate or moderate the association between parental knowledge and delinquency, but it did independently predict future delinquency among adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods. This suggests that the association between parental knowledge and future delinquency is not solely spurious; rather parental knowledge and limit setting are both meaningful predictors of future delinquency.

The Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Monitoring and Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems: A 10-Year Update

“…This strong link between child disclosure and parental knowledge has been replicated in many studies (Eaton et al 2009;Keijsers et al 2009Soenens et al 2006;Vieno et al 2009;Willoughby and Hamza 2011). However, Lahey et al (2008) suggested that this relationship might be spurious, as children who do not engage in delinquent behaviors may also be children who openly disclose to their parents. In this way, parental knowledge may be nothing more than an indirect expression of the child's level of delinquency.…”

“…Several researchers have cautioned that Stattin and Kerr's conclusions may be interpreted as evidence that parents have little to no effect on whether children will engage in conduct problems (Brody 2003;Fletcher et al 2004;Lahey et al 2008). In terms of practical implications, other researchers have posited that Stattin and Kerr's findings will lead to the idea that parents do not need to monitor their children's behavior (Capaldi 2003).…”

Maternal-Related Predictors of Self-Regulation Among Low-Income Youth

“…Inadequate or insufficient parental monitoring negatively impacts upon children's and adolescents' risk-taking, behavior problems, substance abuse (Raboteg-Sçaric et al 2001), delinquency (Lahey et al 2008), and resilience (Buckner et al 2003). Lahey et al (2008) found low parental monitoring in early adolescence to be predictive of delinquency in later adolescence, especially in high-risk neighborhoods, where close parental monitoring is a crucial contributor to the development of young people's ability to safely navigate high-risk environments (Seaman et al 2005). Likewise, Raboteg-Sçaric et al (2001) found high parental monitoring to be consistently negatively associated with young adolescents' behavior problems and substance use.…”

Behavioral problems and their correlates in adolescence: Longitudinal study

“…Lahey et al 2008) i u skladu sa teorijom problema u ponašanju koja, kako smo naveli, ističe značaj očekivanja i odobravanja vršnjaka za usvajanje problema u ponašanju.…”