"Someone You Can Turn To": A Qualitative Secondary Analysis of Adolescents' Experiences of Relationship Processes Contributing to Trust and Distrust in Friendships.

Abstract

Introduction: Trust becomes an increasingly important relationship provision in adolescent friendships. However, little is known about how relationship processes commonly regarded as positive or negative, such as self-disclosure and conflict, foster trust or give rise to distrust among friends, especially from adolescents' own perspectives. This study explores how adolescents experience their friends' responses within these processes as contributing to trust and distrust.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from six focus groups (N = 28; 50% female) with early (aged 11-12), middle (aged 14-15), and late (aged 18-19) Czech adolescents. Participants were asked to think of someone they trusted and someone they distrusted and explain why. The present analysis focused on their accounts concerning friends. The data were analyzed from a critical realist position using an inductive, semantic, and experiential approach to reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: We identified four themes: (1) "Figuring it out": Dealing with disagreements, (2) "In it together": Responding to each other's needs, (3) "Things I wouldn't tell anyone else": Handling disclosures, and (4) "No matter what": Demonstrating reliability.

Conclusions: This study sheds light on adolescents' experiences of trust and distrust in friendship. Our findings show that even friends' responses within relationship processes considered negative, such as conflict, and responses that contribute to distrust, may help adolescents learn to self-disclose appropriately and resolve disagreements. Implications for parents, teachers, and counselors in helping adolescents form trusting friendships, draw on them as unique sources of support, and cope with experiences of distrust are discussed.