The Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Monitoring and Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems: A 10-Year Update

Abstract

Inadequate parental monitoring is widely recognized as a risk factor for the development of child and adolescent conduct problems. However, previous studies examining parental monitoring have largely measured parental knowledge and not the active methods used by parents to track the activities and behavior of their children. The seminal work of Stattin and Kerr (Child Dev 71:1072–1085, 2000; Kerr and Stattin in Dev Psychol 36:366–380, 2000) has challenged the field to reinterpret the construct of parental monitoring, focusing on the active components of this parenting behavior. As a result, this area of research has witnessed a resurgence of activity. The goal of the current paper is to review the evidence regarding the relationship between parental knowledge and monitoring and child and adolescent conduct problems that has accumulated during the past decade. Forty-seven studies published between 2000 and 2010 were identified by searching major databases and bibliographies and were included in this review. This paper will examine the following areas: (a) “parental monitoring” as “parental knowledge”; (b) parental knowledge as driven by child disclosure; (c) the relationship between parental knowledge and monitoring and child and adolescent conduct problems; (d) bidirectional associations between parental knowledge and monitoring and child and adolescent conduct problems; (e) contextual influences on parental knowledge and monitoring; (f) antecedents of parental knowledge and monitoring; (g) clinical implications of research on parental knowledge and monitoring; and (h) limitations of existing research and future directions.