Relations between parental privacy invasion and identity formation during adolescence

Abstract

Privacy is necessary to develop a personal domain in which adolescents can explore their own identity. Adolescents and their parents act upon different definitions of privacy boundaries, which might have consequences for the child’s identity development and sense of autonomy. This cross-sectional study is the first to investigate the nature of the relations between direct and subversive parental privacy invasion and identity formation, also considering the role of autonomy, with 183 self-reports of adolescents. The results showed that autonomy mediated the relation between subversive privacy invasion and exploration and commitment. We suggest that subversive privacy invasion is an unhealthy kind of invasion, which reduces the adolescents’ sense of control. In contrast, direct parental privacy invasion predicted higher levels of exploration and commitment. These differential effects provided insight in the different ways adolescents experience these invasion behaviors.