Reciprocal Associations Between Parental Monitoring Knowledge and Impaired Driving in Adolescent Novice Drivers

Kaigang Li,Bruce G Simons-Morton,Federico E Vaca,Ralph Hingson

doi:10.1080/15389588.2014.996215

Abstract

Objective: Adolescent driving while alcohol/drug impaired (DWI) and parental monitoring knowledge may have notable interplay. However, the magnitude and direction of causality are unclear. This study examined possible reciprocal associations among adolescents between DWI and parental monitoring knowledge.Methods: The data were from waves 1, 2, and 3 (W1, W2, and W3) of the NEXT Generation Health Study, with longitudinal assessment of a nationally representative sample of 10th graders starting in 2009–2010 (n = 2,525 at W1) and analyzed in 2014. Those who had obtained an independent/unsupervised driving license were included for the analysis. Autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis was used to examine potential reciprocal associations between DWI and parental monitoring knowledge of both mothers and fathers, controlling for potential confounders.Results: Stability of fathers’ and mothers’ monitoring knowledge across 3 consecutive interview waves was identified. W1 monitoring knowledge of both fathers and mothers was prospectively associated with DWI at W2 but not for W2 with W3. A significant negative association between adolescent DWI at W2 and mothers’ monitoring knowledge at W3 was found but not between W1 and W2. None of the associations between DWI and fathers’ monitoring knowledge from W1 to W2 or from W2 to W3 were significant.Conclusions: Early (10th grade) parental monitoring knowledge may predict lower adolescent self-reported DWI in 11th grade. More notably, adolescent DWI did not seem to increase parental monitoring knowledge. Future interventions are needed to improve parental monitoring knowledge and enhance awareness of the DWI risk in their adolescent novice drivers.

Highlights

Teenage driving while impaired (DWI) caused by alcohol (Blomberg et al 2009), drugs (Elvik 2013; Li et al 2012), or by alcohol and drugs used in combination (Kuypers et al 2012) is a major cause of injury and death (National highway Traffic Safety Administration 2012; National highway Traffic Safety Administration 2013)
Many factors are associated with teenage DWI including male sex, previous DWI (Copeland et al 1996), heavy episodic drinking (Li et al 2014), risky driving (Li et al 2014), and poor family relationships (Dols et al 2010), parental monitoring may play an important role in attenuating its magnitude and prevalence, because a consistent pattern has been identified between risky behaviors and less perceived parental monitoring (DiClemente et al 2001)
Parental monitoring has been defined as parental monitoring knowledge (Laird et al 2003; Laird et al 2008) when it was measured with the knowledge parents have of adolescent use of free time (Hayes and Matthews 2003)

Summary

Introduction

Teenage driving while impaired (DWI) caused by alcohol (Blomberg et al 2009), drugs (Elvik 2013; Li et al 2012), or by alcohol and drugs used in combination (Kuypers et al 2012) is a major cause of injury and death (National highway Traffic Safety Administration 2012; National highway Traffic Safety Administration 2013). Previous findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have indicated that higher parental monitoring discourages teenage DWI. It was shown in a large national cross-sectional sample of 9th to 11th grade students that authoritative parenting (including monitoring) was related to 71% less DWI compared to those with uninvolved parents (Ginsburg et al 2009). In a longitudinal study using US adolescents, Li and colleagues (Li et al 2014) found that father's monitoring knowledge when students were in 10th grade predicted lower DWI prevalence in 11th grade This predictive effect was observed only in two adjacent years, from 10th to 11th grade students. More waves of data may be needed to clearly depict the relationship dynamics between parenting and child behavior during adolescence (Stice and Barrera 1995) throughout the spectrum of the high-school years, because drinking and DWI increase during late high school

Methods

Results

Conclusion