Publication year
2006
Citation Title
Disclosure and secrecy in adolescent-parent relationships.
Journal Name
Child Development
Journal Volume
77
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
201-217
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00865.x
Summary
Adolescents and one of their parents were surveyed regarding adolescent secrecy and disclosure to parents. The findings suggest that beliefs about obligations to disclose issues to parents were associated with actual disclosure. In addition expectations about disclosure and actual disclosure vary across domains and with age. Healthy parent-child relationships engender more disclosure.
Key Findings
Adolescents’ and parents’ beliefs pertaining to obligations to disclose to parents were related to beliefs about parents’ authority to regulate certain domains as well as with actual disclosure. Parents believed that adolescents were more obligated to disclose to parents than adolescents did.
Both parents and adolescents reported that adolescents were more obligated to report on some domains (e.g., health, safety) than others (e.g., how adolescents spend money or free time); however, those expectations changed with age.
Adolescents disclosed more to mothers than to fathers, but less than mothers perceived.
Greater trust, beliefs about obligations to disclose, and parental acceptance were the most robust predictors of disclosure across domains.
Implications for Military Professionals
Participate in trainings to learn how to help military parents improve their parent-child relationships, especially during adolescence
Create programs and activities that focus on strengthening parent-child relationships during post-deployment
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide classes about healthy parent-child communication, including opportunities to learn new skills and role play effective communication
Educate parents about normative disclosure in order to balance adolescent autonomy with expectations about disclosure
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support the development of family programs aimed at enhancing parent-child relationships
Recommend that military families are offered training in positive parenting strategies
Methods
Adolescents from a suburban school district and one of their parents completed surveys that were sent home with students.
Participants rated beliefs about parental authority and obligations to disclose to parents as well as actual disclosure and secrecy regarding personal, peer, and schoolwork issues. Parenting behavior, adolescent-parent conflict, trust, and self-esteem were also evaluated.
Statistical analyses were used to evaluate differences in beliefs and actual disclosure across various topics, ages, and gender as well as which factors contribute to disclosure.
Participants
The sample consisted of 275 adolescents, which included 154 9th graders (53 males) and 122 12th graders (42 males) and their parents (n = 249; 210 mothers).
Most adolescents were White (70%), living in two-parent households with biological parents (72%).
The average age for mothers and fathers was 44 years and 46 years, respectively. Most parents had completed some college, and they were primarily lower middle-class.
Limitations
Generalizability of the results is limited by several factors including the relatively small number of adolescent boys and fathers who participated, reliance on a single suburban school district, limited racial/ethnic diversity, and evaluation of disclosure of a narrow list of activities.
The one-third of invited 9th graders and one-quarter of invited 12th graders who participated may have differed from those who did not participate in ways that could have influenced findings.
Additional unexamined variables likely contributed to adolescent disclosure and secrecy as evidenced by the relatively small amount of influence the main study variables had on the outcomes.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct studies with more male participants to enhance generalizability and to evaluate interactions between parents’ and adolescents’ gender in disclosure
Explore beliefs about disclosure and actual disclosure of a broader range of issues, parent-child relationships, and developmental trajectories in a more varied age range of adolescents
Design longitudinal studies that follow the development of disclosure within parent-child relationships from middle childhood to early adulthood
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
Beliefs about parents' legitimate authority and adolescents' obligations to disclose to parents and actual disclosure and secrecy in different domains were examined in 276 ethnically diverse, lower middle-class 9th and 12th graders (Ms=14.62 and 17.40 years) and their parents (n=249). Adolescents were seen as more obligated to disclose prudential issues and less obligated to disclose personal than moral, conventional, and multifaceted issues; parents viewed adolescents as more obligated to disclose to parents than adolescents perceived themselves to be. Adolescents disclosed more to mothers than to fathers, particularly regarding personal issues, but mothers overestimated girls' disclosure. Greater trust, perceived obligations to disclose, and, for personal issues, more parental acceptance and psychological control predicted more disclosure and less secrecy.
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