Besides peers, parents and other relevant adults are the most likely source of behavioral influence for early adolescent youth (Véronneau & Dishion, 2011). Previous studies have identified lack of monitoring and supervision as a key component of risk for substance use among adolescents (Dishion, Nelson, & Kavanagh, 2003; Ryan, Jorm, & Lubman, 2010), which may be a result of failure by parents to supervise peer affiliations (Dodge et al., 2009). Vitaro, Brendgen, and Tremblay (2000) found that, although parental monitoring had a direct effect on problem behavior, it did not moderate associations with exposure to problem-behaving peers. However, Véronneau and Dishion (2011) found that parental monitoring buffered risks for problem behavior associated with peer relationship difficulties. Because both opportunities to drink and perceived acceptability of drinking could be affected by supervision, more monitoring may delay onset.
