PARENTAL MONITORING: IMPACT ON DRUG USE AMONG NINTH GRADERS
Open Access
- Author:
- MacClaren, Robert Justin
- Area of Honors:
- Crime, Law, and Justice
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- D. Wayne Osgood, Thesis Supervisor
D. Wayne Osgood, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Jeffery Todd Ulmer, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- juvenile
substance
use
monitoring
knowledge - Abstract:
- There is a wealth of research that seeks to uncover the factors which influence juvenile substance use. This study seeks to uncover the effect of increased parental involvement and monitoring on juvenile substance use based on secondary analysis of the data collected through the PROSPER Project. Through the PROSPER Partnership, data has been collected from over 11,000 students in grades six to nine, but this research focuses on only the final wave of data, collected when the students were in the ninth grade. In studying the influence of parental knowledge and involvement in delinquent behaviors, specifically juvenile substance use, this project will shed light on an important factor of influence which requires research attention. The study examines the behaviors of ninth grade students, an age which has been identified as a critical time for the formation of delinquent behaviors, especially concerning substance usage. The results strongly support the primary two hypotheses, that parental monitoring and knowledge both have a strong and direct impact on juvenile substance use. Both parental monitoring and knowledge were found to have a beneficial impact on juvenile substance usage, meaning that with increased monitoring and knowledge the juvenile respondents are less likely to engage in substance use. The findings however, appear to show that ninth grade females are more likely to engage in substance use behaviors than are ninth grade males.