What do parents think they do and what do adolescents say they are doing? Discrepancies in parent- and adolescent self-report of parental monitoring in Nairobi slums and implications for reproductive health programs

Estelle Monique Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Patricia Elungata, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Joyce N. Mumah, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
Beatrice W. Maina, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Measures of parenting practices in studies conducted in Africa have been assessed solely from children’ perspective. Research using parent-child dyads have shown that there are some inconsistencies between parents and children reports, suggesting that children reports may not reflect actual parental practices. This study represents a first attempt in the literature to determine the level of inconsistencies in an African context and to tease out recommendations for research and practice. Questions of interest are: 1) is the discrepancy between parent- and adolescent self-report associated with parents’ characteristics; 2) is the discrepancy between parent- and adolescent self-report associated with adolescents’ characteristics and sexual behaviors. The data analyzed are drawn from a population-based study in two slum and two nonslum settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Analyses are limited to reports on parental monitoring from 8,676 dyads of parents and 12-24-year-olds adolescents living in the same household.