Analyzing the Effects of Family Communication Patterns on the Decision to Disclose a Health Issue to a Parent: The Benefits of Conversation and Dangers of Conformity

Abstract

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.

The Role of Shame, Stigma, and Family Communication Patterns in the Decision to Disclose STIs to Parents in Order to Seek Support

“…Disclosing an STI to a parent is a difficult process, potentially requiring a great deal of efficacy. Families high in conversation talk about a variety of topics and allow members to express their concerns, so it is likely that individuals in this type of family also talk about health issues and behaviors, that is, the efficacy to communicate personal information such as an STI status may be a hallmark of individuals from conversation-oriented families, especially as EAs from high conversation families are more likely to disclose health issues to parents [ 43 ], partially due to increased communication efficacy [ 44 ], a consistently strong indicator of health self-disclosure [ 45 ]. On the other hand, EAs from more conformity-oriented families may feel less able to disclose their STI status.…”

Family Communication Patterns, Inoculation Theory, and Adolescent Substance‐Abuse Prevention: Harnessing Post‐Inoculation Talk and Family Communication Environments to Spread Positive Influence

“…In this same study, young adults in high‐conformity families were more likely to report lower healthy attitudes and receive less confirmation of health‐specific conversations. Additionally, children from high‐conformity families are also more likely to keep secrets from parents about health‐related issues (Hays, Maliski, & Warner, ). Although not an FCP study, Ichiyama et al's () work is relevant to our current discussion.…”

“…An additional challenge in protective families is that they report the strongest traitlike orientations to privacy (Bridge & Schrodt, 2013). Children are more likely to keep secrets from parents about health-related issues (Hays et al, 2017). Ultimately, inoculation messages that promote family norms around explicit rules and privacy between parents and children (Bridge & Schrodt, 2013) might bypass psychological reactance (Brehm & Brehm, 1981) that stems from privacy violations.…”

“…Specifically, our arguments emphasize the importance of family communication patterns and the influence of these patterns on a child's orientation to complex and/or ambiguous messages (Keaten & Kelly, 2008;Ledbetter & Schrodt, 2008), how different family types engage in important conversations related to health (see Baiocchi-Wagner & Talley, 2013;Hays, Maliski, & Warner, 2017;Thorson & Kranstuber Horstman, 2017), and how inoculation might best function in these communication environments. We envision inoculation messages via two unconventional yet related avenues to achieve these ends: (a) how inoculation-informed talk in conjunction with understandings of family communication patterns could lead to benefits that include but also move beyond substance-abuse prevention and (b) inoculation-informed health campaign messages directed toward parents to encourage them to initiate conversations with their children about substance abuse.…”

Conversation Breeds Compliance: The Role of Intergenerational Communication in Promoting Preventive Behaviors against COVID-19 among Middle-Aged Parents in China

“…Families with high conversation orientation encourage open and equal communication and downplay the homogeneity of values and attitudes among family members, and vice versa. Previous studies found that conversation orientation was positively related to parent–child communication satisfaction, and predicted family members’ positive health attitudes and behaviors, such as sensitive health issue disclosures, mental health, and physical training [ 41 , 42 ]. Conversely, conformity orientation is usually linked to negative communication outcomes, including communication dissatisfaction, children’s stress, and concealment of health issues [ 41 , 42 , 43 ].…”