How Parent and Youth Perspectives on Parental Monitoring and Parent-Youth Relationship Quality Contribute to the Prediction of Youth Alcohol and Marijuana Onset

Introduction: The extent to which parents monitor the whereabouts, activities, and social affiliates of their adolescents is associated with their engagement in risky behaviors, including alcohol and substance use. The quality of the parent-youth relationship is also expected to influence decisions adolescents make regarding substance use. Youth and their parents do not always agree about the extent of monitoring and quality of the relationship they have with one another. This study investigates the individual contribution of youth and parent perspectives of these parenting factors on youth alcohol, binge drinking, and marijuana onset.

Methods: We investigated how parental monitoring, parent-youth relationship quality, and parent substance use were associated with initiation of alcohol use, binge drinking, and marijuana use by adolescents (n = 400). Discrete time survival analysis (DTSA) examined onset by the spring of eighth grade (ages 13–14) and changes in onset through ninth grade (assessed 3 times), a time when youth onset of these substances predominantly occurs. Both parent and youth reports of parental monitoring and parent-youth relationship were included in the models, as well as parent self-report of their alcohol use, binge drinking, and marijuana.

Results: Adolescents rated parental monitoring significantly lower (t = -9.94, p < .001) and the parent-youth relationship quality poorer (t = 2.69, p = .008) than did parents. Results for the multivariate DTSA models showed that youth report of parenting was a stronger predictor of substance use onset than parent report. Youth report of lower parental monitoring and a poorer parent–youth relationship were associated with alcohol use, binge drinking, and marijuana use onset. Parent report of monitoring was not significantly related to youth onset of any of the substance use behaviors. Parent report of poor quality relationship predicted marijuana onset, but not the onset of drinking behaviors. Parent reported binge drinking also significantly contributed to the prediction of youth alcohol onset. Youth report of a poor relationship with parents was a stronger predictor for girls than boys on their alcohol use onset, and youth report of parental monitoring was more protective for girls than boys for both alcohol and marijuana use onset.

Conclusions: Results indicate promise for alcohol and marijuana use prevention programs that focus on both relationship building and parental monitoring. Parent’s own problematic drinking appears to also be a salient prevention target. The importance of obtaining adolescents’ perspectives on the relationship with their parents and on how well they are monitored by their parents is valuable.