“I Need to Talk to Someone…What Do I Do?“: Peer-to-Peer Disclosures of Child Maltreatment on Social Media

Introduction: Child maltreatment significantly impacts youths’ mental and physical health into adulthood. While resources can help, many victims only disclose their experiences to peers, often through social media. The way children use these platforms to reveal maltreatment is not well understood. Objective: This research aimed to analyze disclosures of child maltreatment on the online platform TalkLife, focusing on the nature of disclosures, motivations, and subsequent actions or feelings described. Methods: We conducted a two-phase qualitative content analysis of anonymized TalkLife posts. Initially, we devised a definition for child maltreatment, which we applied to 3,669 posts labeled “suspected family issues” by TalkLife algorithms, identifying 263 posts related to child maltreatment. We then further analyzed these using qualitative content analysis. Results: TalkLife users revealed diverse maltreatment experiences with mental/emotional, physical, and sexual abuse mentioned most often. Disclosures, largely by victims, often cited nuclear family perpetrators. Factors triggering disclosures included recent abuse, emotional states, or seeing related posts. Users sought to vent, solicit advice, inquire about abuse, joke, or share desires. Many youth shared their emotional and traumatic responses to the abuse which spanned from confrontation to flight. A minority detailed others’ reactions to their disclosures, with both support and disregard observed. Conclusion: These results underscore the disclosure needs of maltreated youth, showing some turn to online platforms for peer support. As online disclosures grow, we must equip youth to address peers’ revelations. Platforms could also use algorithms to identify such disclosures, offering trauma-informed resources.