How can parents obtain knowledge about their adolescent children?

The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of family dimensions on parental knowledge of their adolescent children, based on the country, gender and age of adolescents. This study adopts two different perspectives -national and international-with data taken from the results of the 2006 edition of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study undertaken in Spain and other member countries of the international network, namely, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The results indicate that both fathers and mothers obtain knowledge about their adolescent children through the children's disclosures, parental affection, parental solicitation and family activities. The discussion focuses on how these family dimensions promote parental knowledge.