Adolescent Girls’ Disclosure About Dating and Sexuality

Abstract

Adolescents disclose information about romantic relationships and sexuality to family members and friends, but little is known about the correlates of this disclosure. We examined adolescent girls’ ( N = 68; 34 sister dyads) choice of disclosure partner regarding thoughts/concerns about dating and sexuality. Adolescents were more likely to choose mothers and sisters (compared with friends) as disclosure partners regarding dating and sexuality topics. Using multilevel modeling, we also examined romantic relationship and sexual correlates of disclosure partner selection. Adolescents’ disclosure to mothers and sisters was associated with positive relationships. We also found that adolescents who selected mothers as disclosure partners for sexuality reported greater romantic relationship intimacy and adolescents who selected friends as disclosure partners for sexuality reported less conservative sexual attitudes than other adolescents. Furthermore, our findings revealed that adolescents’ choice of disclosure partner was associated with their sexual attitudes, and these associations differed by topic and sibling status.