This study contributes to the existing literature by using longitudinal analyses to examine the relationship between parental knowledge and substance use among urban, African American adolescents and examining how this relationship differs as a function of gender and grade level. The results support the hypothesis that increased parental knowledge is associated with a markedly lower likelihood of adolescent substance use across all types of substances examined (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other drug use, and any drug use). Additional analyses by gender indicate that, contrary to expectations, parental knowledge is more of a protective factor for substance use for boys than girls over time. Finally, analyses by grade level confirm the hypothesis that, over time, parental knowledge is a particularly important predictor of substance use for middle school, rather than high school, adolescents.
