ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PARENTAL SUPERVISION AND TEEN TEXTING WHILE DRIVINGALINA M. BALTAZAR, PHD, MSW, LMSW, CFLE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK &

DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER OF PREVENTION EDUCATION, INSTITUTE FOR THE

PREVENTION OF ADDICTION

ANDREWS UNIVERSITY

LUNEDY FLORVEUS, MSW CANDIDATE, ANDREWS UNIVERSITY

MAUREEN RAJ, MA, ANDREWS UNIVERSITY

ADVENTIST CONFERENCE ON FAMILY RESEARCH & PRACTICE

JULY 22, 2016

BERRIEN SPRINGS, MI

INCREASING CELL PHONE USE

• Teens and cell phones

• 2500 die each year from cell phone use while driving

• 300,000 injured per year from cell phone use while driving

• Other estimates report 26% of car accidents are caused by cell phone use

while driving

TEENS TEXTING AND DRIVING

• Almost half teens admit to texting while driving in the past 30 days

• Even when we know it is dangerous, we still do it

• Especially dangerous for teens because of lack of experience

• Teens who text and drive also more likely to be involved in other risk behavior

DeSilver, 2013, National Safety Council, 2012, O’Malley, et al., 2013, Wu & Weseley, 2013

ROLE OF PARENTS AND TEENS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

• Parents are encouraged to communicate dangers of distracted driving and set

up rules related to safe driving

• Importance of role modeling

• Parent/child relationship

• Parental supervision – difficult when teens have their driver’s license

• Is there anything else parents can do?

Durbin, et al., 2014, Olson, et al., 2013

PARENTAL MONITORING AND TEEN RISK BEHAVIORS

• Multiple researchers have found parental monitoring to be protective in

preventing teen health risk behaviors.

• Parental monitoring has been defined as parental awareness of the child's

activities, and communication to the child that the parent is concerned about,

and aware of, the child's activities.

Ewing, et al., 2015, Tomay et al., 2013, Tomcikova, et al., 2013, Dishion & McMahon, 1998

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

• Assess the prevalence of texting while driving and association between

parental monitoring and teens texting while driving

• Data were used from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013

National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

• In states that asked parental monitoring questions (Nevada, Connecticut, &

Alabama)

• N of 5291

METHODS CONT.

• Assessed prevalence of texting while driving past 30 days before survey and

frequency of parental monitoring

• “During the past 30 days, on how many days did you text or email while driving a

car or other vehicle?” 0-30 days on a scale of 0-8.

• “How often do your parents or other adults in your family ask where you are going

or with whom you will be?”

• Chi squares were used to examine the relationship between adult monitoring and

texting or emailing while driving

RESULTS

• 40% of this population reported texting while driving in the past 30 days

• No gender difference

• Increases with age

• Whites highest rates

• African Americans and Hispanics lowest

• This research suggests that teens who report their parents or an adult asks about

their whereabouts are less likely to text or email while driving.

• The relationship was weak

RESULTS TABLE 1CHI SQUARE OF PARENTAL MONITORING AND TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

Value df Significance

Pearson Chi Square 196.57 28 0.00

Likelihood ratio 202.52 28 0.00

Linear-by-Linear association 32.51 1 0.00

N of valid cases 5291

RESULTS TABLE 2ODDS RATIO OF PARENTAL MONITORING AND TEENS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

Texting While Driving Yes No

Parents always or

mostly monitored

36% 63%

DISCUSSION

• Parents or other adults in the family knowing where you are going and with

whom you will be with are less likely to text while driving.

• Though other parental behaviors may be more protective, this is another thing

parents can do that can improve their teen’s safety behaviors when driving

alone.

IMPLICATIONS

• Benefits of parental monitoring

• Parental monitoring vs. control

• Parental monitoring only plays so much of a role

ROLE PARENTS PLAY WITH OTHER HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS

• Positive attachment/bonding

• Role modeling

• Religious upbringing

• Monitoring/supervision

• Parental Involvement

• Clear communication

• Frequent family dinners

• Authoritative/Supportive parenting

• There are no guarantees, but these can decrease the chances.

REFERENCES

• DeSilver, D. (2013). Texting while driving may be common, but it’s illegal in most states. Retrieved from: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/11/15/texting-while-driving-may-be-common-but-its-illegal-in-most-states/

• Dishion, TJ. & McMahon, R.J. (1998). Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: a conceptual and empirical formulation. Clin. Child Fam. Psychol. Rev., 1(1), 61-75.

• Durbin, D.R., McGehee, D.V., Fisher, D., McCartt, A. (2014). Special considerations in distracted driving with teens. Ann. Ad. Automo. Med., 58, 69-83.• Eaton, R. N., Krueger, F. R., Johnson, W., McGue, M., & William G. I. (2009). Parental Monitoring, Personality, and Delinquency: Further Support for a Reconceptualization of Monitoring. National Institutes of Health, 43(1), 49-59. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682426/pdf/nihms87265.pdf• Edgar Snyder & Associates. (2015). Cell Phone Use While Driving Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html

• Ewing, B. A., Osilla, K. C., Pedersen, E. R., Hunter, S. B., Miles, J. N. V., & D’Amico, E. (2015). Longitudinal family effects on substance use among an at-risk adolescent sample. Addictive Behaviors, 41, 185-191.

• Harvard Center for Risk Analysis Study. (2013). Technology and the human coalition. Retrieved from https://ebonstorm.wordpress.com/tag/harvard-center-for-risk-analysis-study/

REFERENCES CONT.

• Madden, M. & Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and distracted driving: Texting, talking and other uses of the cell phone behind the wheel.

Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Teens_and_Distracted_Driving.pdf

• National Safety Council, 2012. Annual estimate of cell phone crashes 2012. Retrieved from

http://www.nsc.org/DistractedDrivingDocuments/Attributable-Risk-Summary-2012-Estimate.pdf

• Olsen, E. O., Shults, A. R., & Eaton, K. D. (2013). Texting while driving and other risky motor vehicle behaviors among United States

high school students. American Academy of Pediatrics, 131(4), 1708-1715. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-3462

• Tomay, L., Michaud, P. A., Gmel, G., Wilsonn, M., Berchtold, A., & Sunis, J. C. (2013). Parental monitoring: a way to decrease

substance use among Swiss adolescents? European Journal of Pediatrics, 172(9), 1229-1234.

• Tomcikova, Z., Veselska, Z., Madarasova Geckova, A., van Dijk, J. P., & Reijnevelt, S. A. (2013). Leisure time activities, parental

monitoring and drunkenness in adolescents. European Journal of Pediatrics, 19(3), 141-145.

• Wu, A. & Weseley A. (2013). The effects of statistical format and population specificity on adolescent perceptions of cell phone use

while driving. Curr. Psychol., 32, 32-43.