INTERNATIONAL HEALTH BRIEF Parental Monitoring Among Adolescents in Beijing, China

Literature from Western nations has consistently implicated parental monitoring (both communication and supervision) as both a primary and a secondary protector against adolescent risk behavior [1–3]. The relationship between parental monitoring and adolescent risk involvement persists across ethnic and racial groups [4,5]. The robustness of this association in the United States is somewhat surprising since parenting style differs significantly by culture [6–8]. One possible explanation for the consistency of the relationship in spite of difference in monitoring style within the United States is that these subculture variations are comparatively minor. More substantial differences in the relationship might be found in different countries, particularly countries with substantially different cultural heritages from those found with American’s “melting pot.” Accordingly, we undertook examination of the relationship between perceived parental monitoring and adolescent risk involvement among a sample of youth in Beijing, China.