Is Technology-Mediated Parental Monitoring Related to Adolescent Substance Use?

Background: Prevention researchers have identified parental monitoring leading to parental knowledge to be a protective factor against adolescent substance use. In today's digital society, parental monitoring can occur using technology-mediated communication methods, such as text messaging, email, and social networking sites.

Objectives: The current study aimed to identify patterns, or clusters, of in-person and technology-mediated monitoring behaviors, and examine differences between the patterns (clusters) in adolescent substance use.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 289 parents of adolescents using Facebook and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Cluster analyses were computed to identify patterns of in-person and technology-mediated monitoring behaviors, and chi-square analyses were computed to examine differences in substance use between the identified clusters.

Results: Three monitoring clusters were identified: a moderate in-person and moderate technology-mediated monitoring cluster (moderate-moderate), a high in-person and high technology-mediated monitoring cluster (high-high), and a high in-person and low technology-mediated monitoring cluster (high-low). Higher frequency of technology-mediated parental monitoring was not associated with lower levels of substance use.

Conclusions: Results show that higher levels of technology-mediated parental monitoring may not be associated with adolescent substance use.