Parents' and Youths' Solicitation and Disclosure of Information in Today's Digital Age

Authors

  • Jessie H. Rudi University of Minnesota
  • Jodi Dworkin University of Minnesota

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2018.645

Keywords:

parental monitoring, technology, substance initiation, parent–child communication

Abstract

Extensive research has identified parental monitoring to be a protective factor for youth. Parental monitoring includes parents’ solicitation of information from their child and the child’s voluntary disclosure of information. In today’s digital society, parental monitoring can occur using technology, such as text messaging, email, and social networking sites. The current study describes parents’ and youths’ communication technology use explicitly to solicit and share information with each other in a sample of 56 parent–youth dyads from the same family (youth were 13 to 25 years old). We also examined associations between in-person parental monitoring, parental monitoring using technology, parental knowledge, and youth substance use initiation. Results revealed great variability in frequency of parental monitoring using technology, with a subgroup of parents and youth reporting doing these behaviors very frequently. Parental monitoring using technology was not associated with greater parental knowledge or youth substance use initiation after controlling for youth age group (adolescent or emerging adult) and gender composition of dyads. However, in-person communication between youth and parents remained an important variable and was positively associated with parental knowledge. Youth workers could empower parents to focus on in-person communication, and not rely solely on communication using technology.

References

Achenbach, T. M., McConaughy, S. H., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 213-232. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.101.2.213

Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/

Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427-454. doi:10.1007/BF02202939

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469-480. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469

Bogenschneider, K. (1996). An ecological risk/protective theory for building prevention programs, policies, and community capacity to support youth. Family Relations, 45(2), 127-138.

Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. D. (2011). Amazon’s mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(1), 3-5. doi:10.1177/1745691610393980

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Connell, J., & Dworkin, J. (2011). College students’ information and communications technology (ICT) use with parents. Association of Higher Education Parent/Family Program Professionals Journal, 2(2), 2-16.

Crouter, A. C., & Head, M. R. (2002). Parental monitoring and knowledge of children. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of Parenting: Vol. 3. Being and becoming a parent (2nd ed. pp. 461-483). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

DiClemente, R. J., Wingood, G. M., Crosby, R., Sionean, C., Cobb, B. K., Harrington, K., . . . & Oh, M. K. (2001). Parental monitoring: Association with adolescents’ risk behaviors. Pediatrics, 107(6), 1363-1368.

Dishion, T. J., & McMahon, R. J. (1998). Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: A conceptual and empirical formulation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1(1), 61-75. doi:10.1023/A:1021800432380

Dworkin, J., Hessel, H., Gliske, K., & Rudi, J. H. (2016). A comparison of three online recruitment strategies for engaging parents. Family Relations, 65(4), 550-561. doi:10.1111/fare.12206

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Meeus, W. (2002). Keeping secrets from parents: Advantages and disadvantages of secrecy in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31(2), 123-136. doi:10.1023/A:101406992

Greenberg, M. T., & Armsden, G. (2009, August). Inventory of parent and peer attachment (IPPA). Retrieved from https://emdrtherapyvolusia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Attachment_Inventory-Article.pdf

Hessel, H., He, Y., & Dworkin, J. (2017). Paternal monitoring: The relationship between online and in-person solicitation and youth outcomes. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 46(2), 288-299. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0490-6

Hingson, R., & Kenkel, D. (2004). Social, health, and economic consequences of underage drinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Jamal, A., Gentzke, A., Hu, S. S., Cullen, K. A., Apelberg, B. J., Homa, D. M., & King, B. A. (2017). Tobacco use among middle and high school students – United States, 2011-2016. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 66, 597-603. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6623a1

Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S. L., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J., Harris, W. A. … Zaza, S. (2013). Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States, 2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(4). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6304.pdf

Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: Further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36(3), 366-380. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.36.3.366

Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2003). Parenting of adolescents: Action or reaction? In A. C. Crouter & A. Booth (Eds.), Children’s influence on family dynamics: The neglected side of family relationships (pp. 121-151). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Burk, W. J. (2010). A reinterpretation of parental monitoring in longitudinal perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(1), 39-64. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00623.x

Kumpfer, K. L. (1999). Factors and processes contributing to resilience: The resilience framework. In Glantz, M. D., Johnson, J. L., (Eds.), Resilience and Development: Positive Life Adaption (pp. 179-224). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.

Lenhart, A. (2012). Teens, smartphones, & texting. Retrieved from Pew Internet & American Life Project website: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Teens_Smartphones_and_Texting.pdf

Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Perrin, A., Stepler, R., Rainie, L., & Parker, K. (2015). Teens, social media, & technology overview 2015: Smartphones facilitate shifts in communication landscape for teens. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/

Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Smith, A., Purcell, K., Zickuhr, K., & Rainie, L. (2011). Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites. Retrieved from Pew Research Center website: http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/11/09/teens-kindness-and-cruelty-on-social-network-sites/

Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Coresti, S., & Gasser, U. (2013). Teens and technology 2013. Pew Research Internet Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/03/13/teens-and-technology-2013/

Murphey, D., Barry, M., & Vaughn, B. (2013). Mental health disorders. Child Trends, 1, 1-10. Retrieved from https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Child_Trends-2013_01_01_AHH_MentalDisordersl.pdf

Nation, M., Crusto, C., Wandersman, A., Kumpfer, K. L., Seybolt, D., Morrissey-Kane, E., & Davino, K. (2003). What works in prevention: Principles of effective prevention programs. American Psychologist, 58(6/7), 449-456. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.6-7.449

National Institute on Drug Abuse (2017). Monitoring the Future 2017 Survey Results. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/monitoring-future-2017-survey-results

National Institutes of Health (2010). Underage drinking fact sheet. Retrieved from http://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/Pdfs/UnderageDrinking(NIAAA).pdf

Padilla-Walker, L. M., Nelson, L. J., Madsen, S. D., & Barry, C. M. (2008). The role of perceived parental knowledge on emerging adults’ risk behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 347-359. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9268-1

Rogers, M. C., Taylor, B., Cunning, D., Jones, M., & Taylor, K. (2006). Parental restrictions on adolescent internet use. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1804-1805.

Rohner, R. P. (2001). Parental acceptance-rejection bibliography. Retrieved from http://vm.uconn.edu~rohner.

Rudi, J., Dworkin, J., Walker, S., & Doty, J. (2015). Parents’ use of information and communications technologies for family communication: Differences by age of children. Information, Communication & Society, 18(1), 78-93. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2014.934390

Schulenberg, J. E., Maggs, J. L., & O’Malley, P. M. (2003). How and why the understanding of developmental continuity and discontinuity is important. In J.T. Mortimer & M. J. Shanahan (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 413-416). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development, 71(4), 1072-1085.

Steinberg, L. (2001). We know some things: Parent-adolescent relationships in retrospect and prospect. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11(1), 1-19. doi:10.1111/1532-7795.00001

Tilton-Weaver, L., Kerr, M., Pakalniskeine, V., Tokic, A., Salihovic, S., & Stattin, H. (2010). Open up or close down: How do parental reactions affect youth information management? Journal of Adolescence, 33, 333-346. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.07.011

Waizenhofer, R. N., Buchanan, C. M., & Jackson-Newsom, J. (2004). Mothers’ and fathers’ knowledge of adolescents’ daily activities: Its sources and its links with adolescent adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 348-360. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.18.2.348

Downloads

Published

2018-12-14

Issue

Section

Feature Articles