Adolescents spending time with their parents: does it matter to prevent risky and addictive behaviors?

The current study aims to explore the relevance of ‘time spent with parents’ for the prevention of different risk behaviors (i.e. alcohol use, smoking, gambling, problematic social media use) and for the contribution to peer factors (i.e. peer pressure and peer support) and parenting behaviors (i.e. control, relatedness, family support). A cross-sectional design was employed, including 2165 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (Mage=14.7, SD=1.33; 52% girls; 30% in pre-vocational education). Independent sample t-tests were performed to compare different contrasting groups (1hour vs ≥1hour; 2hours vs ≥2hours; 3hours and ≥3hours) for relevant outcomes. Results. Adolescents spending ≥2 hours per week with their parents in joint activities reported lower levels of risk behavior, less peer pressure, more peer support, and more parental control, relatedness and family support. At the same time, this doesn’t seem to go at the expense of spending time with peers as adolescents spending more than 2 hours with their parents did not spend less time with their peers. All findings point at the relevance of parents spending time and undertaking joint activities with their adolescent children. This has imperative implications for parent-based interventions targeting adolescents' risk behavior.