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This 3-year, multi-informant study examined whether youths’ perceptions of parental privacy invasion predicted lower parental knowledge over time, as a function of increased adolescent secrecy. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (Time 1 M = 13 years, SD = 0.5; 57% boys) and both parents. Higher youth-reported invasion predicted lower father- and mother-reported knowledge 1 year later. A link between privacy invasion and youths’ increased secrecy mediated the association between privacy invasion and mothers’ lower knowledge. Further, mothers’ perceptions of adolescent secrecy mediated the association between adolescent-reported secrecy and mothers’ knowledge. No mediation existed for father-report models. The results suggest that privacy invasion is counterproductive to parents’ efforts to remain knowledgeable about youths, due to increased adolescent secrecy. We discuss the implications for family communication processes and successful privacy negotiations during adolescence.

This 3-year, multi-informant study examined whether youths’ perceptions of parental privacy invasion predicted lower parental knowledge over time, as a function of increased adolescent secrecy. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (Time 1 M = 13 years, SD = 0.5; 57% boys) and both parents. Higher youth-reported invasion predicted lower father- and mother-reported knowledge 1 year later. A link between privacy invasion and youths’ increased secrecy mediated the association between privacy invasion and mothers’ lower knowledge. Further, mothers’ perceptions of adolescent secrecy mediated the association between adolescent-reported secrecy and mothers’ knowledge. No mediation existed for father-report models. The results suggest that privacy invasion is counterproductive to parents’ efforts to remain knowledgeable about youths, due to increased adolescent secrecy. We discuss the implications for family communication processes and successful privacy negotiations during adolescence.

Juvenile offending is a wide-spread problem in Western societies: More than half of the adolescents engage in minor forms of delinquency, and this causes high material and immaterial costs. One of the strongest predictors of such types of delinquency is whether or not parents are aware of their adolescents’ leisure time activities, their friendships, and whereabouts. The current dissertation examined potential sources of parental knowledge: teens’ management of information from their parents, that is, adolescents’ decisions to disclose or to keep information secret from their parents and parents’ active monitoring efforts to keep track of their children daily activities, such as asking questions or controlling access to information. I thereby examined bidirectional and developmental linkages of adolescent information management and parental monitoring with adolescent delinquency, and I examined the broader parent-child relationship context in which such communication takes place. This dissertation revealed that parental knowledge mainly results from voluntary adolescent disclosure and not from parental monitoring efforts. Findings suggest, moreover, that low levels of parental control may not be a risk-factor for, but in stead result from adolescent engagement in delinquency. However, adolescent information management and delinquency were bidirectionally and developmentally linked. Particularly adolescent secrecy from parents was found to predict future involvement in delinquency and a too strong decrease in adolescent disclosure related to a stronger increase in delinquency. The parent-adolescent relational context was found to moderate the effects of parental control on delinquency. Retaining higher levels of parental control may only be effective in reducing delinquency when parent-child relationships are of lower quality. Retaining higher levels of control in highly supportive relationships, may even predict higher levels of delinquency. Finally, findings suggest that adolescents will keep less secrets and disclose more when parents ask non-intrusive questions and give high levels of supportive. Also, shared leisure time activities may relate to higher levels of adolescent voluntary disclosure. As such, this dissertation extended a previous reinterpretation of monitoring by showing that adolescent information management, and secrecy in particular, is a longitudinal predictor of adolescent offending. Longitudinal effects of parental monitoring on delinquency may be negative or positive depending on the relationship context. Furthermore, a high quality relationship context, in which parents and teens share time with each other, which is characterized by high levels of parental support, and in which parents manage to ask non-intrusive questions may increase teens’ willingness to voluntary disclose to their parents, and decrease their levels of secrecy, regarding their daily activities

Juvenile offending is a wide-spread problem in Western societies: More than half of the adolescents engage in minor forms of delinquency, and this causes high material and immaterial costs. One of the strongest predictors of such types of delinquency is whether or not parents are aware of their adolescents’ leisure time activities, their friendships, and whereabouts. The current dissertation examined potential sources of parental knowledge: teens’ management of information from their parents, that is, adolescents’ decisions to disclose or to keep information secret from their parents and parents’ active monitoring efforts to keep track of their children daily activities, such as asking questions or controlling access to information. I thereby examined bidirectional and developmental linkages of adolescent information management and parental monitoring with adolescent delinquency, and I examined the broader parent-child relationship context in which such communication takes place. This dissertation revealed that parental knowledge mainly results from voluntary adolescent disclosure and not from parental monitoring efforts. Findings suggest, moreover, that low levels of parental control may not be a risk-factor for, but in stead result from adolescent engagement in delinquency. However, adolescent information management and delinquency were bidirectionally and developmentally linked. Particularly adolescent secrecy from parents was found to predict future involvement in delinquency and a too strong decrease in adolescent disclosure related to a stronger increase in delinquency. The parent-adolescent relational context was found to moderate the effects of parental control on delinquency. Retaining higher levels of parental control may only be effective in reducing delinquency when parent-child relationships are of lower quality. Retaining higher levels of control in highly supportive relationships, may even predict higher levels of delinquency. Finally, findings suggest that adolescents will keep less secrets and disclose more when parents ask non-intrusive questions and give high levels of supportive. Also, shared leisure time activities may relate to higher levels of adolescent voluntary disclosure. As such, this dissertation extended a previous reinterpretation of monitoring by showing that adolescent information management, and secrecy in particular, is a longitudinal predictor of adolescent offending. Longitudinal effects of parental monitoring on delinquency may be negative or positive depending on the relationship context. Furthermore, a high quality relationship context, in which parents and teens share time with each other, which is characterized by high levels of parental support, and in which parents manage to ask non-intrusive questions may increase teens’ willingness to voluntary disclose to their parents, and decrease their levels of secrecy, regarding their daily activities

The current longitudinal study examined adolescent gender differences in the developmental changes and relational correlates of secrecy from parents. For 4 successive years, starting in the second year of junior high (mean age at Time 1 = 13.2 years, SD = 0.51), 149 male and 160 female Dutch adolescents reported on secrecy from their parents and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Latent growth curve modeling revealed a linear increase in secrecy, which was significantly faster for boys than for girls. Moreover, cross-lagged panel analyses showed clear concurrent and longitudinal linkages between secrecy from parents and poorer parent-child relationship quality in girls. In boys, much less strong linkages were found between poorer relationships and secrecy from parents.

This study examined identity development in a 5-wave study of 923 early-to-middle and 390 middle-to-late adolescents thereby covering the ages of 12–20. Systematic evidence for identity progression was found: The number of diffusions, moratoriums, and searching moratoriums (a newly obtained status) decreased, whereas the representation of the high-commitment statuses (2 variants of a [fore]closed identity: “early closure” and “closure,” and achievement) increased. We also found support for the individual difference perspective: 63% of the adolescents remained in the same identity status across the 5 waves. Identity progression was characterized by 7 transitions: diffusion → moratorium, diffusion → early closure, moratorium → closure, moratorium → achievement, searching moratorium → closure, searching moratorium → achievement, and early closure → achievement.