FRIDAY, Nov. 8 (HealthDay News) -- The use of texting to communicate affects partner attachment and relationship satisfaction and stability in young adults, according to research published in the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy.
In an effort to assess the associations between use of communication technology and relationship variables, Lori Cluff Schade, of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and colleagues examined survey responses from 276 men and women aged 18 to 25 years who were in committed relationships.
The researchers found that frequency of male texting was negatively linked with relationship satisfaction and stability scores for both partners. Frequency of female texting was positively linked with their own relationship stability scores. For both men and women, texting to express affection was linked with higher levels of reported partner attachment. Texting to hurt their partners was negatively linked with all three of these relationship variables for men.
"This study was simply designed as an exploratory analysis to begin examining how an increase of technology use in interpersonal romantic relationships might be tied to certain relationship markers," the authors write.
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