Within‐family linkages between parental monitoring and adolescents externalizing problems with autonomy support as a moderator

Paula Vrolijk, Caspar J. Van Lissa, Susan Branje, Wim H. J. Meeus, Renske Keizer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Parents' monitoring efforts are thought to be effective in reducing children's future externalizing problems. Empirical evidence for this claim, however, is limited, as only few studies have unraveled the temporal ordering of these constructs. The present six‐wave longitudinal study contributed to the existing literature by examining within‐family linkages between monitoring efforts (behavioral control and solicitation) and adolescents' externalizing behaviors while controlling for between‐family differences. In addition, it was assessed whether these associations differed when using child versus parent reports, differed for less versus more autonomy‐supportive parents, and differed for fathers' versus mothers' monitoring efforts. Longitudinal data (six annual waves) of 497 adolescents (56.9% boys, M age at T 1 = 13.03, SD = 0.46), their mothers ( N = 495, M age at T 1 = 44.41, SD = 4.45), and their fathers ( N = 446, M age at T 1 = 46.74, SD = 5.10) of the Dutch study Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships (RADAR) were used. Results showed no evidence for the claim that parents' monitoring efforts predict future externalizing problems. In contrast, we found some evidence for the idea that parents' monitoring efforts change in reaction to changes in externalizing problems; when adolescents reported higher levels of externalizing problems than usual in 1 year, this predicted less behavioral control from mothers in the next year. Linkages between monitoring efforts and externalizing problems did not differ between less or more autonomy‐supportive parents. Overall, our findings suggest that monitoring efforts are not effective, but also not damaging, in relation to adolescents' externalizing problems.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1179-1195
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Research on Adolescence
Volume33
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research on Adolescence.

Funding

FundersFunder number
Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving024.001.003
University Medical Centre Utrecht
European Research CouncilGB‐MAGW 480‐08‐006, 757210, ERC‐2017‐CoG‐773023 INTRANSITION, GB‐MAGW 480‐03‐005
Universiteit Utrecht
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek191 G.090, 452‐17‐005

    Keywords

    • autonomy support
    • externalizing problems
    • longitudinal
    • parental monitoring
    • within-family linkages

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Within‐family linkages between parental monitoring and adolescents externalizing problems with autonomy support as a moderator'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this