A new study has claimed that children's relationship satisfaction with their parents is modestly influenced when they connect with their parents through several communication tools, such as cell phones, email, social networking sites.
The study conducted at the University of Kansas showed that that adding an additional channel of communication has a modest increase in relationship quality and satisfaction.
Schon had 367 adults between the ages of 18 and 29 fill out a survey on what methods of communications they used to connect with their parents, how often they used the technology and how satisfied they were in their relationship with mom and dad. Among other items, communication methods included landline phones, cell phones, texting, instant messaging, Snapchat, email, video calls, social networking sites and online gaming networks.
Jennifer Schon, a doctoral student in communication studies, said that a lot of parents might resisted new technologies as they did not see the point in them, or they seem liked a lot of trouble but this study showed that while it might take some work and learning, it would be worth it in the end if one was trying to have a good relationship with their adult child.
Schon said that a parent's basic communication competency, in other words, their ability to get a message across effectively and appropriately, was the best indicator for how happy the child was in the relationship.
Schon added that when there was a significance difference in parental satisfaction, it always favored mothers, who the participants had more access with and it was much easier to reach mothers than fathers particularly on cell phones.
The study is published online in the journal of Emerging Adulthood.