College Students’ Perceptions of Communication Technology Use and Parent–Child Relationships

Abstract

Technologically-assisted communication plays a key role in facilitating relationships between parents and emerging adult college students who are living away from home. Informed by Media Multiplexity Theory, we investigated the channels that college students use to communicate with parents and the impact that used and non-used channels have on perceived parent–child relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 44 undergraduate students in the United States. Students used diverse channels to connect with parents, although some channels were used exclusively with peers. Themes related to communication repertoire size (CRS) included communication frequency, content of communication, and parent gender emerged; themes related to communication gap size (CGS) included student-perceived technology gaps, privacy concerns, and generational differences. Students in high CRS dyads perceived that communication technologies increased or maintained parent–child relationship quality, whereas students in high CGS dyads reported that communication technologies worsened or did not impact parent–child relationships.