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This report describes intervention effects on parent-imposed driving limits on novice young drivers at licensure. Parent-adolescent dyads (4,344) completed baseline surveys at permit and were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. Intervention families received persuasive communications related to protection motivation theory variables including threat appraisal regarding high-risk adolescent driving and coping appraisal regarding restrictions on high-risk driving conditions during the early months of adolescent licensure. Comparison families received standard information on driving, vehicles, and road safety. Among the 4,344 families, 3,786 adolescents obtained licenses, and 3,398 parent-adolescent dyads completed surveys at licensure. Significant treatment group differences favoring the Checkpoints Program were found at licensure for driving limits, perceived risk, expected limits, and outcome expectations. Perceived risk and outcome expectations partially mediated and expected limits fully mediated treatment effects. The results provide evidence that persuasive materials can alter threat and coping appraisal and expectations, thereby increasing parent-imposed driving limits at licensure.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which parents intend to place driving limits on adolescents approaching unsupervised driving. A total of 658 parents and their 16-year-old adolescents were recruited from a local Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration site as adolescents successfully tested for provisional licenses. Parents completed written surveys about parent-adolescent relations and anticipated adolescent unsupervised driving. The results indicated that parents reported high levels of intended limits on adolescents’ unsupervised driving, especially for trip conditions (e.g., getting permission) when compared with risk conditions (e.g., at night). Almost one third of parents reported completing driving agreements. Overall, intended driving limits and completed driving agreements were more likely when parents reported high levels of parental monitoring (2 times more likely), discussion of driving rules (2 to 4 times more likely), risk perception (2 times more likely), and vehicle access (2 to 3 times more likely). Completed driving agreements were not related to intended driving limits.

The goal of this study was to examine the relations among mothers’ awareness of their adolescents’ stressors, mother-adolescent communication, maternal monitoring, and adolescent adjustment in single-parent families. Measures of adolescent stress, communication, monitoring, and adolescents’ anxious/depressed and aggressive behaviors were completed by 82 adolescents and their single mothers. The findings indicated that single mothers were aware of about half of their adolescents’ stressors and not as aware of the importance to their adolescents. Adolescents in the group characterized by high stress/low agreement reported more problem behaviors. Moreover, monitoring mediated the relationship between awareness group membership and adolescent adjustment as high agreement groups reported more monitoring and fewer problem behaviors than did low agreement groups. Thus, during early adolescence when adolescent stress increases and family communication and monitoring change, monitoring by single mothers may increase awareness of adolescent stress, which in turn may buffer the negative effects of stress on adolescent adjustment.

The goal of this study was to examine relations among problem-driving practices and parenting practices. Three hundred adolescents licensed 2 years or less were interviewed about driving behaviors, parenting practices, and orientations toward deviance. Factors significantly related to risky driving behaviors, traffic violations, and motor vehicle crashes included lower levels of parental monitoring and control, and lenient parental restrictions on driving (i.e., friends as passengers and driving curfews). Parental monitoring was among the subset of variables most useful in predicting risky driving behaviors. Violations were 4 times more likely with lenient restrictions related to frequency of friends as passengers and 2 times more likely with low parental control. Crashes were 7 times more likely with lenient restrictions related to frequency of friends as passengers. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescent problem driving is related to parenting practices.