Dominican and Puerto Rican mother-adolescent communication: Maternal self-disclosure and youth risk intentions

A communication framework was developed to examine the influence of maternal use of self-disclosure on adolescent intentions to smoke cigarettes and to engage in sexual intercourse. Data were collected from 516 Dominican and Puerto Rican mother-adolescent dyads. Statistical analyses were conducted in AMOS using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that maternal self-disclosure was associated with increased adolescent attributions of maternal trustworthiness and expertise, which in turn were associated with decreases in youths' intentions to engage in the two risk behaviors.Adolescents' perceptions were more salient for intentions to engage in risk behavior. Gender and ethnic differences emerged with mothers disclosing more to daughters than to sons and Puerto Rican mothers disclosing more than Dominican mothers. Implications for parent-adolescent communication are discussed.