This study seeks to use examine the utility of recently published, developmentally informed measures of parental active tracking for work on youth health behaviors. Information on parental active tracking and health behaviors were collected in six independent survey studies (n’s = 157–408). A series of empirical questions regarding parental active tracking were examined. The recently published measures of parental active tracking in high school and college were shown to have sufficient internal consistency, to be well described by single latent factors, to be empirically distinct from helicopter parenting, to be inconsistently linked with youth risk behaviors, and to demonstrate closer linkages with youth substance use when accounting for parental motivations for tracking. The measures of parental active tracking employed provide face valid, psychometrically sound, and empirically supported indices for use examining parental influences during adolescence and young adulthood.
AbarCCFarnettSMendolaK, et al. (2021) Parental active tracking measures and health behaviors during high school and college. Journal of American College Health69(2): 151–158.
2.
ArriaAMKuhnVCaldeiraKM, et al. (2008) High school drinking mediates the relationship between parental monitoring and college drinking: A longitudinal analysis. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy3(1): 1–11.
3.
Baete KenyonDSilverberg KoernerS (2009) Examining emerging-adults’ and parents’ expectations about autonomy during the transition to college. Journal of Adolescent Research24(3): 293–320.
4.
BarnesGMReifmanASFarrellMP, et al. (2000) The effects of parenting on the development of adolescent alcohol misuse: A six-wave latent growth model. Journal of Marriage and Family62(1): 175–186.
5.
BarnhoornJSHaasnootEBocanegraBR, et al. (2015) QRTEngine: An easy solution for running online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics. Behavior Research Methods47(4): 918–929.
6.
BeckKHShattuckTHaynieD, et al. (1999) Associations between parent awareness, monitoring, enforcement and adolescent involvement with alcohol. Health Education Research14(6): 765–775.
7.
ByrneBM (2013) Structural Equation Modeling With Mplus: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. New York: Routledge.
8.
CrouterACHeadMR (2002) Parental monitoring and knowledge of children. Handbook of Parenting3: 461–483.
9.
CullatyB (2011) The role of parental involvement in the autonomy development of traditional-age college students. Journal of College Student Development52(4): 425–439.
10.
CurranPJChassinL (1996) A longitudinal study of parenting as a protective factor for children of alcoholics. Journal of Studies on Alcohol57(3): 305–313.
11.
DishionTJMcMahonRJ (1998) Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: A conceptual and empirical formulation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review1(1): 61–75.
12.
DunnTJBaguleyTBrunsdenV (2014) From alpha to omega: A practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation. British Journal of Psychology105(3): 399–412.
13.
GamblinB. W.WinslowM. P.LindsayB.NewsomA. W.KehnA. (2017). Comparing in-person, Sona, and Mechanical Turk measurements of three prejudice-relevant constructs. Current Psychology, 36, 217–224.
14.
GriffinKWBotvinGJScheierLM, et al. (2000) Parenting practices as predictors of substance use, delinquency, and aggression among urban minority youth: Moderating effects of family structure and gender. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors14(2): 174.
15.
HabibRRHamdanMAl-SahabB, et al. (2010) The influence of parent–child relationship on safety belt use among school children in Beirut. Health Promotion International25(4): 403–411.
16.
HayesLHudsonAMatthewsJ (2003) Parental monitoring: A process model of parent-adolescent interaction. Behaviour Change20(1): 13–24.
17.
IacobucciD (2010) Structural equations modeling: Fit indices, sample size, and advanced topics. Journal of Consumer Psychology20(1): 90–98.
18.
JenkinsEKSlemonAHaines-SaahRJ (2017) Developing harm reduction in the context of youth substance use: Insights from a multi-site qualitative analysis of young people’s harm minimization strategies. Harm Reduction Journal14(1): 1–11.
19.
LaFreniereLSNewmanMGGrahamJW (2022) Parental support and monitoring influences on adolescent alcohol use: A peer selection mediation model. Mental Health and Addiction Research6(2): 10.15761.
20.
LairdRDCrissMMPettitGS, et al. (2008) Parents’ monitoring knowledge attenuates the link between antisocial friends and adolescent delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology36: 299–310.
21.
LairdRDPettitGSDodgeKA, et al. (2003) Change in parents’ monitoring knowledge: Links with parenting, relationship quality, adolescent beliefs, and antisocial behavior. Social Development12(3): 401–419.
22.
LambornSDGrohK (2009) A four-part model of autonomy during emerging adulthood: Associations with adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development33(5): 393–401.
23.
LeMoyneTBuchananT (2011) Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum31(4): 399–418.
24.
LöweBKroenkeKGräfeK (2005) Detecting and monitoring depression with a two-item questionnaire (PHQ-2). Journal of Psychosomatic Research58(2): 163–171.
25.
MatherPCWinstonRBJr (1998) Autonomy development of traditional-aged students: Themes and processes. Journal of College Student Development39(1): 33–50.
26.
MesslerECLeeAAEmeryNN (2016) The moderating role of parental monitoring and knowledge in the relationship between perceived parental approval of drinking and alcohol outcomes among college students. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education60(3): 42–66.
27.
MillerCAGuidryJPDahmanB, et al. (2020) A tale of two diverse Qualtrics samples: Information for online survey researchers. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; 29(4): 731–735.
28.
MuthénBMuthénBO (2009) Statistical Analysis With Latent Variables. New York, NY: Wiley New York.
29.
MuthénLKMuthénB (2017) Mplus User’s Guide: Statistical Analysis With Latent Variables, User’s Guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
30.
NagarajanPGarlaBTaranathM, et al. (2017) The file drawer effect: A call for meticulous methodology and tolerance for non-significant results. Indian Journal of Anesthesia61(6): 516–517.
31.
OdenwellerKGBooth-ButterfieldMWeberK (2014) Investigating helicopter parenting, family environments, and relational outcomes for millennials. Communication Studies65(4): 407–425.
32.
Padilla-WalkerLMNelsonLJ (2012) Black hawk down?: Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence35(5): 1177–1190.
33.
PettitGSLairdRDDodgeKA, et al. (2001) Antecedents and behavior-problem outcomes of parental monitoring and psychological control in early adolescence. Child Development72(2): 583–598.
34.
SchiffrinHHLissMMiles-McLeanH, et al. (2014) Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies23(3): 548–557.
35.
SellersCMMcManama O’BrienKHHernandezL, et al. (2018) Adolescent alcohol use: The effects of parental knowledge, peer substance use, and peer tolerance of use. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research9(1): 69–87.
36.
SlemonAJenkinsEKHaines-SaahRJ, et al. (2019) “You can’t chain a dog to a porch”: A multisite qualitative analysis of youth narratives of parental approaches to substance use. Harm Reduction Journal16(1): 1–10.
37.
SnowJMannM (2013) Qualtrics Survey Software: Handbook for Research Professionals. Provo, Utah: Qualtrics Labs, Inc.
38.
SpitzerRLKroenkeKWilliamsJB, et al. (2006) A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine166(10): 1092–1097.
39.
SpurgeonSL (2017) Evaluating the unintended consequences of assessment practices: Construct irrelevance and construct underrepresentation. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development50(4): 275–281.
40.
StattinHKerrM (2000) Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development71(4): 1072–1085.
41.
StockingsEHallWDLynskeyM, et al. (2016) Prevention, early intervention, harm reduction, and treatment of substance use in young people. The Lancet Psychiatry3(3): 280–296.
42.
ŠumskasLZaborskisA (2017) Family social environment and parenting predictors of alcohol use among adolescents in Lithuania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health14(9): 1037.
43.
ToumbourouJWStockwellTNeighborsC, et al. (2007) Interventions to reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use. The Lancet369(9570): 1391–1401.
44.
Van der VorstHEngelsRCMeeusW, et al. (2006) Parental attachment, parental control, and early development of alcohol use: A longitudinal study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors20(2): 107.
45.
Wagner IIIJA (2021) The influence of unpublished studies on results of recent meta-analyses: Publication bias, the file drawer problem, and implications for the replication crisis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology25: 639–644.
46.
WoodMDReadJPMitchellRE, et al. (2004) Do parents still matter? Parent and peer influences on alcohol involvement among recent high school graduates. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors18(1): 19.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
