The Role of Parental Monitoring in Mediating the Link Between Adolescent ADHD Symptoms and Risk-Taking Behavior.

ADHD in adolescents and low level of parental monitoring have been associated with increased risk-taking behavior. The present study examined whether parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts mediates the correlations between adolescent ADHD symptoms and risk-taking behavior. Ninety-two adolescents and their parents completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of parents' monitoring, engagement in risk-taking behaviors, and ADHD symptoms. Greater engagement in risk-taking behavior correlated with higher levels of ADHD symptoms and decreased parental monitoring. Mediation analysis revealed both direct effect of ADHD symptoms on risk-taking behavior and an indirect effect mediated by level of parental knowledge. These findings suggest that parental knowledge is negatively affected by the presence of ADHD symptoms, and may in turn lead to risk-taking behavior. The findings emphasize the need to target parenting and in particular parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts to reduce risk-taking behaviors among youth with ADHD.