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Family can be a key site of support for individuals who are diagnosed with a health issue, as long as the health condition is known within the family unit. This online experiment investigated variables that influence the likelihood that college students will disclose a hypothetical health issue to a parent. Family communication patterns (FCP) theory informed this analysis by outlining the role of FCP in disclosure dynamics among college students and their parents. Through structural equation modeling, a novel mediation model of FCP demonstrated that conformity indirectly reduced the likelihood to disclose through the constraint on conversation. The sensitivity of the hypothetical health condition did not moderate the relationship of conformity on likelihood to disclose through conversation. However, regardless of FCP, respondents were less likely to disclose sensitive health issues.

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The parent–child relationship is one of the most influential, important, and meaningful relationships in an individual’s life. The communication between parents and children fuels their bond and functions to socialize children (i.e., gender, career and work, relationship values and skills, and health behaviors), provide social support, show affection, make sense of their life experiences, engage in conflict, manage private information, and create a family communication environment. How parents and children manage these functions changes over time as their relationship adapts over the developmental periods of their lives. Mothers and fathers may also respond differently to the changing needs of their children, given the unique relational cultures that typically exist in mother–child versus father–child relationships. Although research on parent–child communication is vast and thorough, the constant changes faced by families in the 21st century—including more diverse family structures—provides ample avenues for future research on this complex relationship. Parent–child communication in diverse families (e.g., divorced/stepfamilies, adoptive, multiracial, LGBTQ, and military families) must account for the complexity of identities and experiences in these families. Further, changes in society such as advances in technology, the aging population, and differing parenting practices are also transforming the parent–child relationship. Because this relationship is a vital social resource for both parents and children throughout their lives, researchers will undoubtedly continue to seek to understand the complexities of this important family dyad.

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