Effects of Parental Monitoring, Parent-Child Communication, and Parents' Expectation of the Child's Acculturation on the Substance Use Behaviors of Urban, Hispanic Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 223510
• Journal: Ethnicity in Substance Abuse Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: 2008 Pages: 200-213
• Author(s): Pallav Pokhrel; Jennifer B. Unger; Karla D. Wagner; Anamara Ritt-Olson; Steve Sussman
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA016310
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This cross-sectional study of 1,936 Hispanic adolescents (mean age of 14 years) from 7 Los-Angeles-area schools examined the effects of perceived parental monitoring and parent-child communication on the adolescents' self-reported cigarette smoking and alcohol and marijuana use in the past 30 days.

Abstract

The study found that adolescents who perceived that their parents monitored their behavior and promoted frequent parent-child communication had lower rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol and marijuana use. This confirms the findings of some researchers (Gorman-Smith et al., 1996), who have suggested that parental monitoring and parent-child communication may be universally protective against deviancy, including substance use, for Hispanics as well as adolescents from other ethnic groups. The negative association between parents' expectations for their child's acculturation and adolescent alcohol use suggests that children of parents who prefer the American way of life and encourage it within the family are less likely to use alcohol. The study did not find that parents' expectation of the child's acculturation influenced adolescent cigarette and marijuana use. These findings suggest that prevention programs should reach out to parents, with a focus on the development of parental monitoring behaviors and the importance of frequent parent-child communication about significant issues in the adolescent's life. The 1,936 Hispanic adolescents who participated in the study consisted of nearly an equal number of girls and boys. Parental monitoring was assessed through the adolescents' self-reports of parents keeping track of the adolescent's activities. Parent-child communication was assessed with questions pertinent to the adolescent's sharing his/her thoughts and feelings with parents. Questions about parents' acculturation expectations focused on parents' encouragement of the child to speak Spanish as opposed to English in and outside the home. 2 tables and 31 references