What About the Parental Response?: The Effect of Delinquency and Anger on Parental Monitoring

Abstract

Parental monitoring is a set of correlated parenting behaviors involving attention to and tracking of the child’s whereabouts, activities, and adaptations. The impact of parental monitoring is ubiquitous and has broad relevance for youth outcomes. Similarly, although less commonly investigated, youth behaviors can impact parents’ or caregivers’ responses or behaviors. Longitudinal analysis was used to assess the gendered effects of youth behaviors—defined as internalized anger, externalized anger, and delinquency—on parent behaviors (i.e., parental monitoring). Results showed that adolescent’s levels of internalized anger, externalized anger, and delinquency were predictive of parental monitoring. Specifically, as the adolescents aged, parental monitoring decreased and parental monitoring was differentiated based on gender. Results and implications for the parent–child relationship are discussed.