College Students’ Willingness to Reveal Risky Behaviors: The Influence of Relationship and Message Type

This study examined how emerging adults' (ages 18–25) perceptions of confirming, disconfirming, and challenging messages from parents, siblings, and peers shaped their decisions to reveal or conceal their risky behaviors. College students (N = 500) reported on a risky behavior they were keeping from a parent, sibling, or friend and were asked two months later whether they revealed it. They were more willing to reveal their risky behavior to their peers and siblings compared to their parents. When it came to actually revealing their risky behavior, however, the type of target alone did not seem to truly influence the disclosure of the risky behavior. What mattered was the type of message and the interaction between the type of message and the type of target. College students were more likely to reveal their risky behavior when they thought the person would be more confirming and challenging and less disconfirming. The expectation of these messages was, however, important when revealing to parents and siblings, but not peers. None of the expected responses from peers increased the likelihood that college students revealed their risky behavior to them.