The present article focuses upon two key problems in the operationalization of the monitoring construct to date: (a) poor
conceptual specificity in parenting constructs such as monitoring, overprotection, and over-involvement when used to date among youth with chronic conditions and (b) the confounding of existing measures of parental monitoring with items evaluating parental
knowledge of youth activities, which has resulted in a
lack of data regarding the mechanisms by which parents obtain their information.