Family Structure and Substance Use among Mexican Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Parental Monitoring Styles
Main Article Content
Abstract
Introduction: family structure and parental monitoring styles have been identified as relevant factors associated with adolescent substance use.
Objective: to examine the associations among family structure, parental monitoring styles, and substance use among Mexican adolescents, as well as to evaluate the mediating role of parental monitoring using structural equation modeling.
Method: a cross-sectional study was conducted with a non-probabilistic sample of 3,572 upper secondary school students from eleven Mexican cities. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the direct and indirect relationships among family structure, parental monitoring styles, and substance use. Family structure was recoded into dummy variables using nuclear families as the reference category.
Results: adolescents from single-parent, reconstituted, and extended families reported lower levels of parental rule-setting (β = -.25, β = -.41, and β = -.52, respectively) and parental supervision (β = -.37, β = -.40, and β = -.76, respectively). Only single-parent families showed a significant association with higher levels of parental coldness-rejection (β = .27, p < .001). Parental supervision was negatively associated with both licit (β = -.03) and illicit substance use (β = -.03), whereas parental coldness–rejection was positively associated with licit (β = .02) and illicit substance use (β = .01). Indirect effects suggested a partial mediating role of parental monitoring in the association between family structure and adolescent substance use.
Discussion and conclusions: the findings highlight that specific parental monitoring styles are significantly associated with adolescent substance use. These results underscore the importance of family-based prevention strategies aimed at promoting consistent supervision, clear rule-setting, and positive parent-adolescent relationships.
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