Gender-based model comparisons of maternal values, monitoring, communication, and early adolescent risk behavior.

PURPOSE

To examine the relationships among maternal values, monitoring knowledge, parent-adolescent communication, and adolescent risk involvement based on adolescent gender.

METHODS

Parental reports of their personal values, monitoring knowledge, and communication with their children were compared with adolescent reports of risk involvement using information gathered from 647 Bahamian mother-adolescent (9-13 years) dyads.

RESULTS

Parental values of conservation (e.g., conformity) were positively associated with greater parent-adolescent communication and communication was significantly associated with greater monitoring knowledge for both genders. Among mother-son dyads only, group-based parental values of self-transcendence (e.g., universalism) were significantly associated with greater perceived parental monitoring knowledge; individualized self-enhancement values (e.g., hedonism) were negatively associated with open and supportive parent-adolescent communication.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental values influence other parenting processes such as monitoring and communication. Parental monitoring, in turn, inversely influences adolescent risk involvement. These influences appear to differ based on the adolescent's gender, as many of the relationships were stronger among mother-son dyads. These findings highlight a need to better understand the nature of the relationship between maternal values, parent-adolescent interactions, and adolescents' risk decisions.