Actual and Perceived Parental Knowledge and Child Delinquency: Does the Sex of the Parent,the Sex of the Child,and the Child’s Age Make a Difference?

Abstract

Parental knowledge was tested as a possible deterrent to future delinquency in 3914 (51% male) early to mid-adolescent school children from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Using three waves of data, parent-rated mother and father knowledge were tested as correlates of future delinquency, controlling for age, perceived parental knowledge, and the willingness of children to share their thoughts and feelings with parents. Variables from Wave 5 (age 12/13) were used to predict delinquency at Wave 6 (age 14/15), and variables from Wave 6 were used to predict delinquency at Wave 7 (age 16/17). Results showed that mother- but not father-reported knowledge effectively deterred future child delinquency. A significant sex x mother knowledge interaction was found in both analyses, indicating that boys experienced a stronger deterrent effect than girls. It was further demonstrated that the deterrent effect of parental knowledge on child delinquency was stronger in early adolescence than in middle adolescence.

Keywords

parental monitoring actual and perceived parental knowledge delinquency

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