Parent and Adolescent Perceptions of Parental Monitoring and Adolescent Risk Involvement

Objective. To compare parent and youth reports of the extent to which parents monitor their adolescents and to determine whether parents' perceptions of parental monitoring are more predictive of adolescent risk behavior. Design. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 270 parent - adolescent dyads recruited from rural communities in West Virginia. Parents completed a series of written questionnaires, and adolescents (12-16 years) provided information about their involvement in various risk behaviors. Results. Parent perceptions of parental monitoring efforts did not relate to adolescent perceptions of parental monitoring; parents generally perceived themselves to have more information about their adolescents' whereabouts and activities than their adolescents reported. No main effects of age or gender were found in the discrepancies between parent and adolescent monitoring reports. Adolescent reports of monitoring were negatively correlated with adolescent drinking, marijuana use, and sexual activity over the previous 6-month period. Adolescent risk behaviors were predicted by adolescent reports of parental monitoring alone. Conclusions. Parents and adolescents perceive the magnitude of parental monitoring efforts differently even when both parties perceive parents to know much about adolescent activities. Adolescents' perceptions of how much their parents know about their activities are more predictive of their own involvement in risk behaviors than their parents' perceptions about their own monitoring efforts.