Monitoring offered an interesting pattern of results with regard to moderation by mothering. For teacher reported outcomes, the co-occurrence of high monitoring by both parents was related to better outcomes. Looking at adolescent reported outcomes, the co-occurrence of high monitoring by both parents was related to better outcomes in one instance (risky behavior among EA stepfamilies), a finding that is consistent with the more influential part played by cross parent consistency in stepfamilies. However the co-occurrence of monitoring was related to more anxiety and risky behaviors in intact families. The direction of effect, in this case is unclear. Perhaps adolescents who self-report high amounts of deviant behavior elicit more active monitoring on the part of their parents in an effort to control the adolescent’s undesirable behavior. Alternatively, a major goal of adolescence is autonomy and high levels of monitoring by both parents may be viewed as inappropriate and interfering with their autonomy striving goals and/or signal a lack of trust in their adolescents’ judgment. Since monitoring is conceptualized as a negotiated disclosure process between the parent and adolescent (Stattin &
