Why parental awareness matters for teens exposed to family violence
Submitted by Mohini Howlader
Seeing or hearing intimate partner violence (IPV) between parents has been linked with delinquency in teenagers, like breaking rules or getting into trouble. Parental monitoring knowledge (including parents actively supervising their child and setting rules for their behaviour, as well as their knowledge about their child’s whereabouts) is associated with reduced delinquency, but it is not yet known whether increased parental monitoring knowledge might be a protective factor for teens exposed to parental IPV. This is what the current study explored.
We used data on 4,782 children and their parents from the Millennium Cohort Study, which is a large set of data that has tracked children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002. Parents reported on IPV exposure when their child was aged 11 and 14, and teens and their parents reported parental monitoring knowledge at ages 14 and 17.
We found that teens exposed to parental IPV tended to become more involved in delinquent behaviours as they grew older, at least in comparison to teens who were not exposed. However, teens who felt like their parents had more knowledge about their whereabouts showed smaller increases in delinquency after IPV exposure. Furthermore, while active parental monitoring was linked lower levels of delinquent behaviour overall, it was not a protective factor for teens exposed parental IPV.
Because this was an observational study, it cannot say anything about whether being exposed to parental IPV can cause later delinquency, or whether parental monitoring behaviour prevented it. However, these findings do suggest that helping parents stay informed about their child’s social life and maintain open communication may be an important part of supporting teenagers who have experienced IPV at home.
I’m a parent - what does this mean for me?
The protective effect of parental knowledge on delinquency following IPV exposure suggests that it is important for parents to have an awareness of their teen’s social activities, particularly if this kind of violence has taken place in the home.
I’m a clinician – what does this mean for me?
Our findings are consistent with evidence-based interventions such as Multisystemic Therapy (MST), which targets prosocial behaviours and reduces delinquency by improving communication between parents and teens, and parental monitoring skills.