Early and middle adolescents' disclosure to parents about activities in different domains.
Disclosure, disclosure strategies, and justifications for nondisclosure for prudential, peer, multifaceted, and personal acts were assessed using a sorting task with 118 lower-middle class early and middle adolescents (Ms=12.77 and 15.68 years). Adolescents were less involved in prudential than other behaviors, although prudential behavior was greater among middle than early adolescents; adolescents disclosed more about prudential and personal than multifaceted and peer behaviors. Nondisclosure was primarily due to concerns about parental disapproval (for prudential acts), claims that acts were personal or not harmful (for personal acts), and their mixture (for peer and multifaceted acts). When concerned about parental disapproval, older adolescents fully disclosed less (and lied somewhat more) than younger adolescents, whereas adolescents primarily avoided discussing the issue when they viewed acts as personal. Full disclosure was associated with better relationships with parents and less depressed mood; lying was associated with more parental behavioral control over personal issues and poorer relationships with fathers.
Smetana
Judith G
JG
Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Meliora Hall, RC 270266, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. smetana@psych.rochester.edu
Villalobos
Myriam
M
Tasopoulos-Chan
Marina
M
Gettman
Denise C
DC
Campione-Barr
Nicole
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires