Control less, trust more: Parenting and externalising problems of adolescents

Abstract

Previous research recognises poor parental monitoring, negative parental upbringing practices and insecure attachment as risk factors of great importance for understanding externalising problems in adolescence. The aim of the research is to understand the role that affective attachment to parents plays in the interpretation of the relationship between parental monitoring and upbringing practices with externalising problems of adolescents. A total of 507 adolescents (209 males and 298 females), aged between 15 to 18 filled the questionnaires. Through the use of structural equation modelling, trust in parents is revealed as important mediator with systematic effect that deserves further attention. It is found that trust in parents, especially in mothers, is a more potent mediator for explaining the link between positive parenting and parental monitoring with aggressive behaviour than with rule-breaking behaviour. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of parent-adolescent relationship for externalising problems in adolescence.