Parental Support and Control as Predictors of Adolescent Drinking, Delinquency, and Related Problem Behaviors

Abstract

This study uses a representative general population sample of 699 adolescents and their families to examine the effects of parenting practices, particularly support and control, on the development of adolescent drinking, delinquency, and other problem behaviors. Black families were oversampled (n = 211) to permit meaningful analyses. The findings confirm that parental support and monitoring are important predictors of adolescent outcomes even after taking into account critical demographic/family factors, including socioeconomic indicators, age, gender, and race of the adolescent, family structure, and family history of alcohol abuse. In addition, peer orientation remains a significant predictor of drinking behavior and deviance and interacts with aspects of parenting. Methodological issues associated with sampling, family respondent, and measurement of support and control are critiqued as they pertain to parental socialization and adolescent outcome research