A longitudinal study of relations between parental monitoring, involvement with deviant peers, and substance use in early, middle, and late adolescence

Both parental monitoring and involvement with deviant peers have in previous research been associated with individual substance use during adolescence as well as to deviant behavior in general. Although such associations are well established, less is known of how the significance and interaction of family and peer influences may change during adolescence. It has been discussed whether peer factors independently influences on risk for substance use among adolescents, or if poor parenting is a prerequisite for peer risk factors to have an effect. In this study, changes in parental monitoring will be examined, as well as the longitudinal relations between parental monitoring and peer deviant behaviors in predicting adolescent substance use. The sample is drawn from the Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study (MINDS) and constitutes of four waves of data collection with 190 adolescents and their parents. When the first wave of data collection was carried out with the parents, the adolescents averaged between 12 and 13 years of age, and in the last wave of data collection, the adolescents had reached an averaged age between 16 and 17. The results showed that both parental monitoring and peer deviant behavior was associated with individual substance use. In addition, the results showed some variation in level of monitoring over time, with the highest level of monitoring in early adolescence. Overall, the adolescents are well monitored by their parents. Further, adolescents who have deviant peers tend to be less monitored. The implications of significance and relations between parental monitoring and involvement with deviant peers in predicting substance use over time will also be discussed