Perceived parental monitoring and health risk behaviors among urban low-income African-American children and adolescents (original) (raw)
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Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2004
Adolescent delinquency, drug use and aggression remain societal concerns. These problems are more common with adolescent boys than girls, and tend to increase with age. Although a lack of parental monitoring has been found to be related to problem behaviors, the mediating role of monitoring on the relationship of sex and grade to problem behaviors has not been directly studied. This paper examined parental monitoring as a mediator of the relationship of sex and age to delinquency, drug use, and aggression in a sample of urban African American young adolescents. Our findings indicated that in general, boys and older adolescents reported higher rates of delinquency, drug use, and aggressiveness. Boys and older adolescents also indicated less monitoring by parents. Parental monitoring was found to mediate the effects of sex and grade on some of the behavioral problems.
The Role of Percieved Parent Monitoring and Support on Urban Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior
Community Mental Health Journal, 2011
Parental practices on problem behavior based on gender and age effects with urban youth were studied. Participants were 8-17 years old (N = 3,658; 66% African-American) and logistic regression models were conducted. For pre-teen females, decreased friend monitoring was related to high problem behavior; for teen females, lower maternal support and decreased home monitoring were significant. None of the models were significant for pre-teen males and lack of home monitoring was significant for teen males. Strategies for preventing problem behavior within urban communities will be more effective if they are tailored to gender and developmental factors.
Journal of Adolescent Health, 2010
Identify the number and characteristics of heterogeneous trajectories of parental monitoring and communication among a sample of urban, racial/ethnic minority youth and examine the effects of these patterns on alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use. Methods: The study sample (n¼2,621) was predominantly African American or Hispanic (38% and 32%, respectively) and low-income (67% received free, or reduced price, lunch). They completed classroom-based surveys when in 6th-8th grades. Multilevel general growth mixture modeling was used to identify the heterogeneous trajectories of parental monitoring and communication and estimate the effects of these distinct patterns on drug use in 8th grade. Results: Four trajectories of parental monitoring and communication were identified: (1) High (76.4%), (2) Medium (9.1%), (3) Decreasing (6.0%) and (4) Inconsistent (8.5%). Relative to those with high monitoring/communication, youth in the decreasing and inconsistent trajectories were at significantly greater risk for past year and past month alcohol and marijuana use and having ever smoked a cigarette. After controlling for family composition, only youth in the decreasing trajectory were significantly more likely to report substance use in 8th grade. Conclusions: Findings support the role of parents in preventing drug use during early adolescence and suggest that efforts to improve the level and consistency of parental monitoring and communication may be a fruitful target for prevention. Many youth initiate use of alcohol, tobacco or marijuana in this critical developmental period and considered with the health and social consequences of use, engaging parents in preventing drug use should remain a priority for prevention.
Journal of Adolescent Health, 2000
Design/Intervention: This research was a randomized, controlled longitudinal study. Baseline (preintervention), and 2 and 6 months postintervention data were obtained via a talking MacIntosh computer regarding youth and parent perceptions of youth involvement in 10 risk behaviors, parental monitoring and youth-parent communication, and condom-use skills. Intervention parents and youth received the ImPACT program and a video emphasizing parental supervision and discussion, followed by a structured discussion and role-play emphasizing key points. Control parents and youth received an attention-control program on goal-setting, which also included an at-home video and discussion.
Journal of Urban Health-bulletin of The New York Academy of Medicine, 2002
To explore the long-term contributions of perceived peer and parental influences on adolescent risk and protective behaviors (sexual involvement, condom use, and drug use), we assessed self-reported behaviors and perceptions of peer risk involvement and parental supervision and communication among 383 low-income, urban African Americans aged 9 to 15 years at baseline over a 4-year, period. Baseline perceptions of peer sexual involvement were significantly associated with youth sexual behavior at baseline and were predictive of sexual involvement through all 4 years of follow-up. Perceived parental monitoring was inversely correlated with sexual involvement ment through 3 years of follow-up. Perceptions of peer condom use were associated with increased levels of condom use at baseline and through 6 months of follow-up. Positive parental communication was correlated with increased condom use. Drug use was higher among youths who perceived peers or family members to be using drugs and was inversely correlated with increased parental monitoring and supervision. Stepwise regression revealed peer and parental influences for all three behaviors. Perceptions of both peer and parental behaviors influence long-term risk and protective behaviors of adolescents. Therefore, parents should be included in adolescent riskreduction intervention efforts. Inclusion of friends and/or changing youth perceptions of peer involvement may also be effective intervention strategies.
PREVENTION AND RISK REDUCTION AMONG ADOLESCENTS: A 16 YEAR COMMUNITY-RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP
Utilizing data sets from six community-based research studies (two cross-sectional and four longitudinal covering a span of nearly 15 years) among African American youth residing in low income areas of urban, Baltimore, Maryland, we summarize findings regarding the associations and longitudinal protective effects of parental monitoring on adolescent risk behavior. We present an updated meta-analysis regarding these relationships and new analyses of the effect of a parental monitoring intervention on both adolescent perceptions of parental monitoring and their risk and protective behaviors.
Social Science & Medicine, 2013
The literature suggests that parental monitoring can best be conceptualized and measured through the domains of parental knowledge, youth disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control. Using longitudinal data on 913 grade-six Bahamian students followed over a period of three years, we examined the unique and independent roles of these domains of parental monitoring and parent-adolescent communication in relation to adolescent involvement in delinquency, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors. The results obtained with mixed-effects models indicate that parental knowledge, youth disclosure, and parental control are negatively associated with both delinquency and substance use. Open parent-adolescent communication was associated with decreased sexual risk behavior, whereas problematic parent-adolescent communication was associated with increased sexual risk behavior. The results obtained with path models indicate that youth disclosure is a significant longitudinal predictor of reduced adolescent delinquency and that parental control during early adolescence predicted reduced substance use in middle adolescence. The findings suggest that parental knowledge, youth disclosure and parental control differ in their impacts on substance use, delinquency and sexual risk behaviors. Problematic parent-adolescent communication is consistently associated with increases in all three types of adolescent risk behaviors. Future parental monitoring interventions should focus on enhancing parents' interpersonal communication skills and emphasize the differences in and importance of the unique components of parental monitoring.