Effects of Topic Valance and Strategic Ambiguity in Parent-to-Child Post-Divorce Disclosures

• In Event: Managing Difficult Topics in the Family

Abstract

Parents and children struggle balancing what divorce-related information should be shared. Communication Privacy Management theory suggests disclosures may vary in valence and strategic ambiguity. To test whether these disclosure characteristics explain how parents’ divorce-related disclosures effect relational quality and communication satisfaction, 40 parent-emerging adult children dyads discussed a positively valenced and negatively valenced divorce-related topic. Valence and strategic ambiguity predicted parents’ and children’s relational quality. Communication satisfaction was influenced by children’s perception of strategic ambiguity.

Authors

• Tara McManus, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Jon Nussbaum, Penn State University