Dating and disclosure: adolescent management of information regarding romantic involvement.
Voluntary disclosure regarding romantic involvement was examined in a sample of 222 middle and late adolescents (124 female adolescents, M=16.19 years). Disclosure was described with three empirically derived, conceptually meaningful composites that pertained to identity/choice of romantic partner, everyday expression of romantic relationship, and parental supervision/sexual contact. Disclosure regarding identity/choice and expression was greater for females than for males and mothers were targets more than were fathers. Older adolescents disclosed less regarding supervision/sex than did younger adolescents. Trust was positively associated with disclosure, particularly for females when considering supervision issues. Assessment of adolescents' beliefs regarding act's potential for self-harm and consequences to others illuminated adolescents' reasoning regarding disclosure and nondisclosure. Potential harm was positively associated with disclosure regarding supervision/sex issues. The potential for an activity to affect other people was positively associated with disclosure regarding identity/choice and expression for middle adolescents but not for late adolescents.
Daddis
Christopher
C
Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 170E Morrill Hall, 1465 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Marion, OH 43302, USA. daddis.1@osu.edu
Randolph
Danielle
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012574:Schools; D012650:Self Disclosure; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust; D014342:Truth Disclosure