Objective: Potential moderating effects between parental control and close friend support on youth conduct problems have not been investigated. Goals of this study were to investigate for a possible curvilinear relationship between parental behavioral control and child conduct issues, as well as the potential that parental control will moderate the relationship between friend support and those behaviors.

Design: Surveyed 101 youth and their parents in a small Midwestern United States metropolitan area.

Results: Through hierarchical regression, the current study shows a curvilinear main effect for parent control on conduct problems. Additionally, close friend support is a protective agent only for those youth in families with high and medium levels of parental control, and a risk factor for children from families with low parental control.

Conclusion: Moderate levels of parental control are ideal and low levels of parental control are particularly problematic for youth who are highly engaged with peers.