Why adolescents do not confide in their parents about online sexual solicitation: A mixed-method study

Receiving non-consensual sexually loaded messages often upsets adolescents. Yet, many choose not to confide in their parents, thus losing a potential source of support. This mixed-method study investigates adolescents’ experiences with online sexual solicitations and the barriers that prevent them from confiding in their parents in order to provide insights into how adolescents manage information disclosure about their online experiences. A quota-based sample of 1,500 Czech adolescents (aged 13–18, 52.3% female) was used to quantitatively analyze the frequency, the severity, and the disclosure of their experiences with online sexual solicitations, and to qualitatively address their reasons for not confiding in parents (via open items). In total, 57.7% of the sample reported receiving such a message, which was more frequent for older and female adolescents in line with prior research. More than half never confided in their parents. A Structured Tabular Thematic Analysis of 1397 open-ended answers revealed 25 themes that fell under six key domains: reasons related to (1) the parents (e.g., poor relationship quality, burdening them); (2) the fear of consequences (e.g., bans, over-reactions); (3) the adolescents’ perceptions of the experience (e.g., shame, privacy); (4) alternative solutions (e.g., peer support, blocking); (5) the nature of the messages (e.g., severity); and (6) the initiator (e.g., protecting them). Our study contributes by using mixed methods and examining both actual and hypothetical reasons for non-disclosure. This study helps to understand how adolescents experience upsetting online interactions and can inform prevention efforts in mitigating the impact of online sexual solicitations on them.