Sexual abuse is a socially significant, largely covert social problem.
Abused children and adolescents often hide their experiences from oth
ers. Therefore, examining the disclosure processes of sexual abuse is
essential. The Communication Management of Privacy Theory was used to
examine child and adolescent disclosures of sexual abuse. Thirty-eight
face-to-face interviews were conducted with abused children and adole
scents ages eight to 18 who willing disclosed their abuse. Qualitative
analyses revealed that these children and adolescents used boundary a
ccess rules such as tacit permission, selecting the circumstances, and
incremental disclosure as a basis for revealing their experiences. Th
ey also used boundary protection rules to preserve their privacy borde
rs through evaluating target characteristics, and anticipating ramific
ations of disclosure about abuse. These findings may inform strategies
parents and others might use to facilitate children and adolescents t
o reveal sexual abuse.