Parental monitoring among adolescents in Beijing, China

Abstract

Literature from Western nations has consistently implicated parental monitoring (both communication and supervision) as both a primary and a secondary protector against adolescent risk behavior [ 1 Steinberg L. The family at adolescence Transition and transformation. J Adolesc Health. 2000; 27: 170-178 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (72) Google Scholar , 2 Li X. Stanton B. Feigelman S. Impact of perceived parental monitoring on adolescent risk behavior over four years. J Adolesc Health. 2000; 27: 49-56 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (270) Google Scholar , 3 Steinberg L. Fletcher A. Darling N. Parental monitoring and peer influences on adolescent substance use. Pediatrics. 1994; 93: 1060-1064 PubMed Google Scholar ]. The relationship between parental monitoring and adolescent risk involvement persists across ethnic and racial groups [ 4 Steinberg L. Mounts N.S. Lamborn S.D. Authoritative parenting and adolescent adjustment across varied ecological niches. J Res Adolesc. 1991; 1: 19-36 Google Scholar , 5 Li X. Feigelman S. Stanton B. Perceived parental monitoring and health risk behaviors among urban low-income African-American children and adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2000; 27: 43-48 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (242) Google Scholar ]. The robustness of this association in the United States is somewhat surprising since parenting style differs significantly by culture [ 6 Harkness S. Super C. Culture and parenting. in: Bornstein M.H. Handbook of Parenting Vol. 2 Biology and Ecology of Parenting. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, Mahwah1995: 211-234 Google Scholar , 7 Steinberg L. Dornbusch S.M. Brown B.B. Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement An ecological perspective. Am Psychol. 1992; 47: 723-729 Crossref PubMed Scopus (749) Google Scholar , 8 Chen X. Dong Q. Zhou H. Authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and social performance in Chinese children. Int J Behav Dev. 1997; 21: 855-873 Crossref Scopus (302) Google Scholar ]. One possible explanation for the consistency of the relationship in spite of difference in monitoring style within the United States is that these subculture variations are comparatively minor. More substantial differences in the relationship might be found in different countries, particularly countries with substantially different cultural heritages from those found with American’s “melting pot.” Accordingly, we undertook examination of the relationship between perceived parental monitoring and adolescent risk involvement among a sample of youth in Beijing, China.