Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Day-to-day inconsistency in parent knowledge: Links with youth health and parents' stress
Journal Name
Journal of Adolescent Health
Journal Volume
56
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
293-299
DOI
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.11.017
Summary
Parental knowledge of youth's behaviors is an important aspect of childrearing. To better understand the impact of consistent parental knowledge, researchers examined parents' reports of day-to-day knowledge of youth's activities and behaviors. A link between degree of consistent knowledge and youth's outcomes was found.
Key Findings
Individual parents differed on their daily knowledge of how youth spent their free time almost as much as differences on daily knowledge among the sample of parents.
Parents who had inconsistent knowledge about how youth spent their free time had youth who reported more risky behaviors and worse health than parents who had more consistent knowledge.
Parents who experienced more global and daily stressors, reported more inconsistent knowledge about how youth spent their free time.
Implications for Military Professionals
Participate in professional trainings to learn more about the impact of various parenting strategies on youth’s functioning and outcomes and how these relate to military families
Help military parents develop strategies to increase knowledge of their youth’s activities
Implications for Program Leaders
Host communication workshops for military parents and youth to improve their communication skills within the family
Develop positive peer social support groups for youth who are at-risk of negative social and health outcomes
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs aimed at promoting recreational activities that increase resilience in military families
Encourage collaboration between military- and community-based family support programs to help improve the functioning of military youth
Methods
There were no data provided as to how the parents were recruited for the study. Parents’ data were obtained from a larger study of a field trial of a workplace intervention.
Parents completed self-report surveys on family demographics, work and family experiences, and individual well-being. Youth were interviewed about their health, adjustment, and family relationships.
Researchers also gathered data via eight consecutive nightly phone calls to parents and youth who were separately asked about their experiences during the day of the call.
Participants
Participants were 129 parents and their youth. The number of youth participants was not reported.
Forty-five percent of the parents were female, while 55% of the youth were female. The average age of the parents was 45.24 years (SD = 6.30) and the average age of youth were 13.39 years (SD = 2.40).
The race/ethnicity of the youth sample was White (59%), Black (3%), Latino (15%), Asian-American (18%) and Multiracial (4%). The race/ethnicity of the parents were not reported.
Limitations
Certain demographic data for parents and youth were missing (e.g., number of youth included in the sample), which limits the ability to interpret the data and replicate the study.
Most of the parental and youth outcomes were assessed by one-item measures, which limits the validity and reliability of the constructs that were measured.
There was no explanation of the recruitment of participants, which limits the ability to interpret how robust the research methods were.
Avenues for Future Research
Collect longitudinal data from youth and parents to assess changes in their communication patterns
Assess aspects of youth and parental functioning with more complex self-report measures
Examine risk and protective factors that impact consistency of parental knowledge
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
Purpose: Considerable evidence documents the linkages between higher levels of parental knowledge about youth activities and positive youth outcomes. This study investigated how day-to-day inconsistency in parental knowledge of youth activities was linked to youth behavioral, psychological, and physical health and parents' stress. Methods: Participants were employees in the Information Technology Division of a Fortune 500 company and their children (N = 129, mean age of youth = 13.39 years, 55% female). Data were collected from parents and youth via separate workplace and in-home surveys as well as telephone diary surveys on eight consecutive evenings. We assessed day-to-day inconsistency in parental knowledge across these eight calls.: Results: Parents differed in their knowledge from day to day almost as much as their average knowledge scores differed from those of other parents. Controlling for mean levels of knowledge, youth whose parents exhibited more knowledge inconsistency reported more physical health symptoms (e.g., colds and flu). Knowledge inconsistency was also associated with more risky behavior for girls but greater psychological well-being for older adolescents. Parents who reported more stressors also had higher knowledge inconsistency.: Conclusions: Assessing only average levels of parental knowledge does not fully capture how this parenting dimension is associated with youth health. Consistent knowledge may promote youth physical health and less risky behavior for girls. Yet knowledge inconsistency also may reflect normative increases in autonomy as it was positively associated with psychological well-being for older adolescents. Given the linkages between parental stress and knowledge inconsistency, parent interventions should include stress management components.
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