Poster #47 - The Buffering Effects of Parental Monitoring on Associations among Adolescents’ Sensation-Seeking, Self-Control, and Risk-Taking Behaviors

• In Event: Poster Session 02

Abstract

Sensation seeking, as one of the distinctive traits in adolescence, may lead to risk-taking behaviors (Zuckerman, 2007). Previous studies suggest self-control, a capacity to override one’s undesired behavioral tendencies and to abstain from acting on them (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004), mediates the relation between sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors (Quinn & Fromme, 2010). A child’s development of self-control can be impaired when parents have no affection for the child, lack proper supervision, or is indifferent to misbehaviors (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Several studies (e.g. Cotrell et al., 2003; Rogers, Elam, Chassin, Sternberg, & Bui, 2018) consistently reported substantial associations between the perception of adolescents on how much their parents know and care about their days and behavioral problems or risk-taking behaviors. Thus, we examined whether the mediating effect of self-control on sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors is different by the level of parental monitoring. The moderated mediation model was tested to examine if the relations between sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors varied with self-control as a mediator and parental monitoring as a moderator. Participants were 466 secondary school students (aged from 13 to 18, Mean age = 16.21 years; boys 53%). They were recruited from eight middle or high schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, South Korea. A set of questionnaires was used to assess sensation seeking (SSIA: Chung, Lim, Chung, & Cho, 2010), perceived parental monitoring (Hwang, 2006), self-control (Cho, 2010), and risk-taking behaviors (Jung, 2013) by self-report. Collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlations, and Model 8 in PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) in SPSS. Results of correlations showed more frequent risk-taking behaviors (e.g. alcohol use, truancy, stealing) were significantly associated with a stronger tendency to sensation seeking (r = .36, p <.01), less self-control (r = -.42, p <.01) and lower levels of perceived parental monitoring (r = -.25, p <.01). Testing a moderated mediation model indicated the moderated indirect effect of parental monitoring in the link from sensation seeking to self-control was significant (B=.09, t=2.88, p <.01). That is, self-control decreased when adolescents perceived lower levels of parental monitoring, which in turn aggravated the effects of sensation seeking on risk-taking behaviors. The conditional direct effect of perceived parental monitoring between sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors was not significant. That means parental monitoring buffered the effects of sensation seeking on risk-taking behaviors only indirectly through self-control as a possible mechanism. These findings provide evidence that supports the protective effects of perceived parental monitoring and self-control in the link between sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors of adolescents. Different effects of perceived parental monitoring are further discussed.

Authors

• Jiyoon Choi, Korea University

• Eunbin Park, Korea University
  Presenting Author

• Ailin Guo, Korea University

• Jungha Lim, Korea University