Japanese adolescents' disclosure and information management with parents.

Adolescents' obligation to disclose and their actual disclosure about their activities to parents, justifications for nondisclosure, and strategies for information management were examined in different domains in 460 middle adolescents (M(age) = 16.6 years) from working and middle-class families in Japan. Adolescents felt most obligated to disclose prudential issues, but disclosed most about personal issues. Adolescents primarily justified nondisclosure with claims to personal choice and for prudential issues, concerns with parental disapproval. They rarely lied and mostly told parents if asked or avoided the issue. Findings revealed consistencies with prior work on disclosure with European and U.S. adolescents, as well as patterns specific to the Japanese cultural setting.