Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Holding The Line With A Watchful Eye: Parental Monitoring And Parental Permissiveness And Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents In Psychiatric Care, Geri R. Donenberg, Helen W. Wilson, Erin Emerson, Fred B. Bryant

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Adolescents in psychiatric care are at increased risk of HIV, yet little is known about the family factors related to sexual risk taking among these youth. We explored whether perceived parental monitoring and perceived parental permissiveness were linked to high-risk sexual behavior in 169 ethnically diverse urban youth seeking mental health services in Chicago, and we tested whether adolescent gender moderated these associations. We evaluated sexual risk taking at a global level and for specific risk behaviors (e.g., sex without a condom, sex while using drugs and alcohol). Girls reported more risky sex overall than boys, and girls were more …