Parental Monitoring Affects the Relationship Between Depressed Mood and Alcohol-Related Problems in Adolescents

ABSTRACT

Background: Parental monitoring has been identified as a protective factor for adolescent drinking, whereas depressed mood, peer substance use, and peer tolerance of substance use have been identified as risk factors. The purpose of this study was to test the association between depressed mood and alcohol-related problems in adolescents, and to test whether parental monitoring and peer substance use/tolerance of use moderate the strength of this relationship. Methods: Participants included 227 adolescents (M_age = 15.36; 51.5% female) recruited from a hospital emergency department and surrounding community who completed self-report assessments. Results: Hierarchical linear regression analysis demonstrated that depressed mood was associated with more alcohol-related problems. A significant interaction between depressed mood and parental monitoring indicated a moderating effect, with high levels of depressed mood being associated with alcohol-related problems when parental monitoring was low; at low levels of depressed mood, parental monitoring was not related to alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: This study highlights the protective role that parental monitoring may play in the association between depressed mood and alcohol-related problems and suggests that parenting practices, in addition to individual counseling, should be addressed in treatment of depressed adolescents who drink.

Keywords:

• Parental monitoring
• depressed mood
• alcohol-related problems
• adolescents

FUNDING

This study was supported by grant AA013385 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The funding agency had no role in conducting the study beyond funding or preparing the manuscript.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

All authors participated in the designing of the study question. Dr. O'Brien conducted the literature search and statistical analyses and composed the first draft of the manuscript. Dr. Hernandez assisted with the statistical analyses and manuscript drafts. Dr. Spirito assisted with the manuscript drafts. All authors were involved in revising the manuscript and approved the manuscript in its final form.