Parental Monitoring & Communication

Schools and local education agencies can share resources with parents and families to promote these parenting practices.

Parental monitoring refers to parental knowledge of adolescents’ companions, whereabouts, and activities and enforcement of rules, particularly about friends and dating.

Parent-adolescent communication should be ongoing and substantial, open and honest, equally initiated by both parents and adolescents, acknowledging of individual attitudes and values, reflective of an authoritative parenting style (i.e., provide emotional support while also enforcing high standards), and mutually satisfying.

Schools and local education agencies can share resources with parents and families to promote these parenting practices.

Resources about these topics should address both knowledge and skills. Specifically, information should include:

key definitions and explanations of the concept(s).
a brief summary of its benefits as well as challenges to implementation and potential solutions.
key action steps for parents to strengthen the practice.

Additional resources on parental monitoring and communication can be found below.

Resources

CDC. School Health Profiles- Family Engagement. This PowerPoint presentation provides an overview of the 2018 School Health Profiles findings including information on family engagement strategies being implemented in schools across the U.S.
CDC. Positive Parenting. This webpage provides an overview of positive parenting practices that can help adolescents make healthy choices.
CDC. Ways to Influence Your Teen’s Sexual Risk Behavior: What Fathers Can Do. This infobrief outlines action steps for fathers related to positive parenting practices.

CDC. Monitoring Your Teen’s Activities: What Parents and Families Should Know. This infobrief outlines action steps for parents to monitor their teens.

CDC. Talking with Your Teens about Sex: Going Beyond “the Talk.” This infobrief outlines action steps for parents to talk with their teens about sex.

CDC. Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice. This resource outlines best practices for health communication materials.
CDC. Everyday Words for Public Health Communication. This resource outlines plain language considerations for health communication materials.
World Health Organization. Framework for Effective Communications. This resource outlines best practices for health communication materials.

Dittus PJ, Michael SL, Becasen JS, Gloppen KM, McCarthy K, Guilamo-Ramos V. Parental monitoring and its associations with adolescent sexual risk behavior: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2015;136(6):e1587-1599.
Widman L, Choukas-Bradley S, Noar SM, Nesi J, Garrett K. Parent-adolescent sexual communication and adolescent safer sex behavior: a meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2016;170(1):52-61.
Jaccard J, Guilamo-Ramos V, Bouris A, Dittus PJ. A three-process system of parental monitoring and supervision. In: Guilamo-Ramos V, Jaccard J, Dittus PJ, eds. Parental Monitoring of Adolescents. New York, NY: Columbia University Press; 2010.
Baurmind D. Parenting styles and adolescent development. In: Brooks-Gunn J, Lerner R, Peterson AC, eds. The Encyclopedia of Adolescence. New York, NY: Garland; 1991.