Student affairs professionals as confidants : communication privacy management between student affairs professionals and college students.

Within the framework of communication privacy management theory (CPM), this study explored the experiences of Student Affairs professionals (SAPros) who receive disclosures of personal information from students, serving as their confidants. The goal of this study was to examine the types of information students share with SAPros, as well as the impacts of disclosure-reception on SAPros. In-depth narrative, semi-structured interviews were conducted (N = 20) with current SAPros to explore this experience. Seven themes emerged regarding the topics of disclosure from students to SAPros, and five themes described the impacts of these situations on the professionals. Findings revealed that students share an array of information with SAPros, including particularly sensitive issues. Thus, receiving this information created stressful, yet tensional, information-management and response obligations for SAPros. These findings underscore the significance of the SAPro-student relationship, as well as the importance of studying confidant perspectives on disclosure.