To whom, why, and in what contexts adolescents share information about their substance use: A scoping review of what we know

Background: Obtaining an accurate understanding of adolescent substance use depends on adolescents’ willingness to voluntarily disclose substance use-related information. This scoping review synthesizes the literature on adolescents’ volitional sharing of information about substance use behaviors, attitudes, or experiences. Method: We followed revised scoping review guidelines to index articles in Scopus, PubMed, and PsycInfo from any time. We reviewed every peer-reviewed journal article we could find that assessed disclosure of substance use information in adolescents aged 12-17 years. Six clinical manuals for adolescent substance use treatments were also reviewed. Results: Systematic searches identified 17 studies that have addressed adolescent disclosure about substance use. However, only four focused directly on adolescent disclosure, as the remaining 13 studies touched on disclosure incidentally or tangentially. Only three of the 17 studies used a sample in which every participant was under 18 years old. All clinical manuals acknowledged the importance of adolescent disclosure in treatment, but few described typical disclosure patterns or provided guidance for obtaining disclosure. Conclusions: Basic information about disclosure, such as the percentage of times adolescents tell their parents or peers about their substance use, is unknown. We outline future directions for building a coherent evidence base on disclosure. A better understanding of adolescent disclosure of substance use information may enable parents, clinicians, other adults, and friends to better protect adolescents from early substance misuse and assist in reducing its short- and long-term consequences.