BACKGROUND: Positive parenting practices are known to be related to lower levels of youth offending. Questions remain as to the overlap between youth and parent perceptions of parenting practices, and the relationship of perception discrepancies with youth offending. This study examines the concordance of parenting behaviors
reports, the relationship between parent and youth perceptions of parenting measures with youth offending, and whether discordant youth and parent
reports are related to heterogeneity in youth
offending.
METHODS: Survey data from 818 high risk U.S. youth averaging 16 years old who participated in the Pathways to Desistance study and his or her parent form the basis of this analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate youth and parent
reports of parental knowledge and parental monitoring are correlated, yet independent predictors of youth
offending variety scores. Youth and parent
reports about parenting measures demonstrate youth
offending is highest when youth perceive parents as uninvolved, and lowest when youth estimates of parental knowledge and monitoring are higher than parent estimates. Parenting matters for high-risk youth, especially in reducing the likelihood of property offending. Using multiple perspectives to assess parenting practices is important in studying these dyadic relationships.