Mediators of the link between parental monitoring and youth adjustment: a review of the evidence

Objective: By what mechanisms does parental monitoring affect youth adjustment? This paper aimed to review every published study that has tested a statistical mediator of monitoring→adjustment. Method: We searched for studies that (a) enrolled youth ≤18 years old, (b) measured parental monitoring as parent action (vs., e.g., knowledge), and (c) tested a statistical mediation model linking monitoring to any form of youth adjustment. Results: 14 studies have tested a mediator of the link from monitoring→adjustment, most among typically developing teens (10 of 14 studies) and using only cross-sectional data (8 of 14). All studies were non-experimental and none made a substantial effort to rule out potential confounders. Across the 14 papers, 20 out of 45 tests of mediation were statistically significant (p<.05), but 7 of the significant 20 went in the opposite of the expected direction (the indirect effect of monitoring was detrimental, not beneficial). We found at least one statistically significant test for 15 distinct pairs of mediator and outcome, but only 2 mediational pathways had been replicated in more than one paper. Effect sizes for single mediators were universally small, suggesting multiple mediators would be needed to explain the total effect. Of relevance to Stattin and Kerr’s (2000) classic argument, we found no studies testing whether youth disclosure mediates the link between monitoring and adjustment. Conclusion: Tests of the mediators linking parental monitoring to youth adjustment are scarce and have not been rigorous. As a result, the extant evidence can be reconciled with many (if not all) major theories about how parental monitoring works.