Change in maternal knowledge over the transition to adolescence was assessed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). In addition, maternal warmth, behavior control, and adolescent delinquency were considered as predictors of knowledge as well as time-varying covariates. Five years of self-report data were collected from 159 mothers and their early adolescents, beginning when the adolescents were in fourth grade. The results indicated that there was a significant mean decrease in maternal knowledge over time for both mother and adolescent reports. In addition, the data followed a quadratic trend, which was necessary to account for the slight increase in knowledge from T1 to T2. Maternal warmth, but not maternal behavior control, was a consistent predictor of the knowledge trajectory. Adolescent delinquency also predicted change in knowledge over time. Adolescent gender, mother’s T1 marital status, and change in mother’s marital status were not significant predictors. The study makes several important contributions, including examining knowledge across the transition to adolescence and considering a number of predictors of the knowledge trajectory.
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