Disclosure, Nondisclosure, and Secrecy in Adolescent-Parent Relationships

University Of Rochester, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

"Its 10 pm. Do you know where your children are?" These types of questions have been used in public service announcements, based on the widespread assumption that parents who supervise and monitor their children - know where they are, who they are with, and what they are doing when they are not at home - are more effective at keeping their teens out of trouble. In fact, this assumption is based on a great deal of developmental research that indicates that greater parental monitoring and supervision are associated with better adolescent adjustment and less juvenile delinquency. However, as several researchers have noted recently, much of the research on parental monitoring is flawed because the research typically has examined parents' knowledge of children's activities rather than their active tracking and surveillance, and parents' knowledge can be obtained in different ways. In fact, recent research has shown that children who voluntarily disclose to parents are more likely to stay out of trouble than teens whose parents actively supervise and keep track of them. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Judith Smetana will conduct research to examine adolescents' beliefs about desirable, obligatory, and actual disclosure to parents and peers, their beliefs about secrecy and deception in adolescent-parent relationships, and teenagers' motivations and strategies for nondisclosure. Age, gender, and ethnic differences will be examined. In addition, the project will examine disclosure and secrecy in everyday life. Adolescents will keep daily diaries of how much they disclose or keep things secret from parents. The studies will be conducted using different methods and will provide information on how adolescents' disclosure to parents is connected to adolescent adjustment and the quality of adolescent-parent relationships. The broader impact of this project is that it will enhance our knowledge of the conditions that promote healthy psychosocial development during adolescence. The results of these studies can help parents, educators, and psychologists. These studies will contribute to efforts to construct environments and social conditions that will help adolescents to become healthy and productive citizens of our society. In addition, this project will provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in research.