title: Parental knowledge is an environmental influence on adolescent externalizing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is evidence both that parental monitoring is an environmental influence serving to diminish adolescent externalizing problems and that this association may be driven by adolescents' characteristics via genetic and/or environmental mechanisms, such that adolescents with fewer problems tell their parents more, and therefore appear to be better monitored. Without information on how parents' and children's genes and environments influence correlated parent and child behaviors, it is impossible to clarify the mechanisms underlying this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study used the Extended Children of Twins model to distinguish types of gene-environment correlation and direct environmental effects underlying associations between parental knowledge and adolescent (age 11-22 years) externalizing behavior with a Swedish sample of 909 twin parents and their adolescent offspring and a US-based sample of 405 White adolescent siblings and their parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results suggest that more parental knowledge is associated with less adolescent externalizing via a direct environmental influence independent of any genetic influences. There was no evidence of a child-driven explanation of the association between parental knowledge and adolescent externalizing problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this sample of adolescents, parental knowledge exerted an environmental influence on adolescent externalizing after accounting for genetic influences of parents and adolescents. Because the association between parenting and child development originates in the parent, treatment for adolescent externalizing must not only include parents but should also focus on altering their parental style. Thus, findings suggest that teaching parents better knowledge-related monitoring strategies is likely to help reduce externalizing problems in adolescents.
authors: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA; Division of Behavior Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital.
authors: Kristine
authors: K
authors: Marceau
authors: Jurgita
authors: J
authors: Narusyte
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Lichtenstein
authors: Jody M
authors: JM
authors: Ganiban
authors: Erica L
authors: EL
authors: Spotts
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Reiss
authors: Jenae M
authors: JM
authors: Neiderhiser
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D035781:Siblings; D013548:Sweden; D014427:Twins; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Gene-environment correlation; adolescent externalizing; extended children of twins; parental knowledge; parental monitoring