No abstract

No abstract

Open adoption relationships are rife with privacy dilemmas and fuzzy boundaries, which require ongoing coordination of private disclosures as a result. The present study employed communication privacy management (CPM) theory to examine adoptive parents’ ( N = 354) private disclosures with the birth family across in-person and mediated (i.e., texting and social media) contexts. SEM analysis revealed that adoptive families who were more private and were concerned about the birth family sharing private information with others viewed disclosures to the birth family as risky. These privacy concerns related to adoptive parents being more clear with the birth family about preferences for sharing that private information with others. More social media contact between birth and adoptive parents predicted increased perceptions of risk of disclosure to birth parents. Results advance CPM theorizing by underscoring the motivational bases of perceived risk, the importance of anticipated boundary turbulence, and the nuanced privacy management processes within communication modes.

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Foster care is becoming a more prevalent diverse family form and serves a critical role in our society. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners need to know more about how communication facilitates resilient behaviors in former foster youth. Guided by the Theory of Resilience and Relational Load (TRRL) (Afifi, Merrill, and Davis, 2016), the current study utilized structural equation modeling to illuminate the role of communication in cultivating resilience for children who have entered the foster care system. Survey results revealed former foster children (N = 120) developed communal orientation through continuous relational maintenance behaviors with their foster parents. Former foster children also felt safer in the foster family when they had been in the home for an extended period of time. Results also showcased how trauma effects relationship development within the foster family unit. Children who have adverse childhood experiences need communication strategies to help foster resilience. To that end, I provided theoretical contributions and extension, specifically an expansion of TRRL to include a trauma lens as well as a greater understanding of how foster children and foster parents used their relationship to foster resilience. I also offer future directions for studying resilience as it relates to the current literature and Public Policy with suggestions for practical implications and an agenda for future research.