Adolescents’ Trusts in Various Facebook Friends and the Differences in Those Trusts between Parental Awareness of Adolescents’ Contacts with Friends

Abstract

The study aims to examine the Taiwanese adolescents’ trusts in various friends and the differences in those trusts between parental awareness of adolescents’ Facebook use for contacting friends. A survey method was utilized to collect the data related to parental awareness according to adolescents’ self-reports, and adolescents’ trust in five types of Facebook friends. A total of 1,120 Taiwanese adolescents were invited to fill in a validated questionnaire that consisted of items on parental awareness and trust scales in five types of Facebook friends. Of the sample, 1120 questionnaires were valid. Data were analyzed using Friedman test and one-way analysis of variance. The study determines that the closer the friends were, the more trust adolescents exhibited in them. Moreover, the study concludes that Taiwanese adolescents who did not tell parents about the content of Facebook use exhibited higher trust in friends than those who told parents anything. Since the majority of adolescents put more trust in closer friends with less willing to tell their parents about contacts with Facebook friends, the parents need to be actively concerned their adolescents on Facebook use. The study contributes to the literature by providing a viewpoint, more trust adolescents put in friends, less awareness their parents had, for adolescents using Facebook to contact friends.