Theory for how parental monitoring changes adolescent behavior

Low parental monitoring is a robust and transdiagnostic risk factor for adolescent behavior problems, yet a clear theory for how monitoring changes adolescent behavior has not been articulated. We propose a model in which parental monitoring reduces adolescent misbehavior via eight mechanisms organized into behavior-management (B), context-control (C), and relationship/support-mediated (R) domains (BCR Model). Parental monitoring increases the anticipated probability and actual occurrence of punishment for misbehavior (B), enables the parent to steer the adolescents’ socialization contexts (peers, non-parent adults, siblings) away from those that encourage misbehavior (C), and strengthens the adolescent’s bond to parent, disclosure of information, and receipt of social support (R)—all of which in turn reduce misbehavior. The mechanisms differ in timescale of effects and vary in importance across the population. We sketch an agenda for testing, refining, and extending the model to better leverage the potential of parental monitoring for etiological models and clinical practice.