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Early Adolescents' Reasoning About Secretive Parental Monitoring and Lying: Assessing Covert Strategies for
Matthew Gingo1, Katherine E Eskine1
1Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, USA.
Journal of Adolescence
|July 23, 2026
Summary
Adolescents generally dislike covert parental monitoring and lies, but their acceptance varies with monitoring invasiveness and risk level. Reasoning about parental surveillance and deception develops with age during early adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Adolescent Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Early adolescence involves increased autonomy seeking and risk-taking.
- Parents may use covert monitoring and deception to manage adolescent behavior.
- Limited research exists on adolescent reasoning regarding parental surveillance and lies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate adolescent reasoning about parental covert monitoring and deception.
- To examine how age, risk assessment, and monitoring strategy influence these reasoning processes.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed data from 152 ethnically diverse US adolescents (10-14 years old).
- Utilized linear mixed-effects models and clinical interviews.
- Adolescents evaluated vignettes of risky behaviors and parental covert monitoring with deception.
Main Results:
- Adolescents largely rejected covert monitoring and parental lies.
- Judgments were influenced by monitoring invasiveness and the type of risk.
- Acceptance of monitoring increased with higher-risk situations and varied with age.
Conclusions:
- Adolescents' views on monitoring and deception are nuanced, not uniform.
- They balance concerns for honesty, privacy, safety, and parental authority.
- Findings offer insights into adolescent-parental negotiation of privacy and safety.
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