Effortful Control in Adolescence As a Mediator of Positive Parenting Practices on Substance Abuse: A Prospective Study

Introduction: Effortful control (EC) is a core element of self-regulation that involves executive attention, and the ability to inhibit and activate behavior depending on the environment (Rothbart, 2012). EC is an important target of substance use prevention, as research suggests robust prediction of  substance use progression in adolescence. In addition, EC can be largely shaped by positive parenting practices (e.g., monitoring and conflict management). However, how different longitudinal profiles of positive parenting practices in adolescence impact EC has not received much attention. Thus, the present study examined how different trajectories of positive parenting practices link to future substance abuse through EC.

Methods:The sample consisted of 998 adolescents (47.2% females) and their families from a large longitudinal randomized control trial of the Family Check-up intervention. The participants were ethnically diverse (42.4% Caucasian, 29.2% African American, 6.8% Hispanic, 5.2% Asian, and 16.4 % other). Youth reports of parental monitoring and parent-child conflict were measured from ages 11 to 14 (4 waves). EC was measured by self-, parent-, and teacher-report at ages 16 and 17. Lifetime alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana abuse diagnostic information was collected at ages 18 and 19 using the Composite of International Diagnostic Interview measure.

Results: A parallel growth mixture model was employed to consider both parental monitoring and parent-child conflict growth trajectories, simultaneously. The BIC, adjusted BIC, Lo-Mendel-Rubin LRT (Likelihood Ratio Test), and Parametric Bootstrapped LRT were used to determine the number of classes. Two classes were confirmed: (1) High parental monitoring with Low parent-child conflict; and (2) Moderate parental monitoring with Moderate parent-child conflict. This trajectory information was dummy coded and used in the subsequent mediation model. The percentile bootstrap method was used to estimate indirect effects. While controlling for treatment condition, gender, ethnicity, and participants' self-control and substance use at  baseline, significant full mediations were observed for tobacco ([95% CI] -.57, -.17), alcohol ([95% CI] -.39, -.09), and marijuana ([95% CI] -.36, -.09) abuse.    

Conclusions: Findings of the present study suggest that higher parental monitoring and lower parent-child conflict during adolescence can positively shape youths' effortful control, which in turn, serves as a significant protective factor for substance abuse. Thus, the present study highlights that family interventions that focus on reducing parent-child conflicts and improving parental monitoring, or interventions that directly target increase in effortful control could be useful in adolescent drug use prevention.