Validating “announcer” and “confessor” styles of mental health self-disclosure through use of archived qualitative data ()
ABSTRACT
Two new
conceptual styles of self-disclosure were identified in a previous study—“announcers” and “confessors”. The styles and characteristics of each had been derived
from disclosures made during Somerset Health Panel discussions in 2001 on
attitudes to stress and depression. The aim of this article is to validate and refine the concepts of “announcer” and “confessor”
styles of self-disclosure. Data from archived qualitative data of seven focus
groups collected in 2006 for the Cultural Context of Youth Suicide study was
analysed. The results validated the concept of two styles of self-disclosure
(announcers and confessors) and highlight additional factors that impact on
disclosure. This study adds new insights in how people disclose personal or
sensitive information and the impact of specific factors (contextual, individual
and methodological) on the disclosure style used. Importantly, this article
also demonstrates that qualitative data can be reused successfully in the
development of models in communication and social interaction theory.
Share and Cite:
Coe, N. (2013) Validating “announcer” and “confessor” styles of mental health self-disclosure through use of archived qualitative data.
Health,
5, 512-520. doi:
10.4236/health.2013.53A070.