Some researchers have argued for a different interpretation of parental monitoring, however, namely that what is often measured is parental knowledge—conveyed primarily by child disclosure—rather than overt monitoring behaviors (e.g., Stattin & Kerr, 2000). Perhaps adolescents who do not disclose freely to parents are more likely to do the types of things that they would not want their parents to know about (e.g., drink alcohol). In either case, low monitoring implies a different relationship between parents and child than one of high monitoring, though the details of how this monitoring gets played out remain to be articulated. These findings suggest that the nature of the relationship between parents and adolescents may be particularly important.
