ABSTRACT
In examining research pertinent to family members managing and discussing personal information about difficult subjects, the current chapter provides an overview of scholarship on topics such as self-disclosure, privacy, and topic avoidance while also suggesting ways to sharpen the analysis of these topics. The first major section of the chapter reviews prominent theories about the processes of discussing and avoiding in families. The perspectives covered include examples of dialectical theories, decision models, and multiple goals theories. The second section delineates complications not fully explained by extant literature and suggests three future directions that may deepen understanding of how, why, and to what effects family members do (and do not) discuss sensitive issues: (a) moving beyond the limits of binary conceptualizations of disclosure, (b) paying greater attention to the interdependent nature of discussions, and (c) examining interconnections of technologies and meanings when family members share information.
