Daily Communication Between First-Year College Students and Their Parents: Associations With Perceived Relationship Positivity

Abstract

First-year college students are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, and high-risk alcohol use relative to older students. Parents often provide support through communication. We examined several aspects of daily parent-student communication, including quantity, mode, initiation, and content (e.g., perceived support, parental advice, topics discussed), between 367 first-year parent-student dyads (across a 7-day period) and tested for differences by gender, first-generation status, and race-ethnicity. Multilevel models examined between- and within-person associations between communication variables and how the student felt about their relationship with their parent the following day. Results showed students communicated frequently with parents (74% of days) across a variety of modalities, especially via text message, with important demographic differences observed. Any and more communication, perceived support, student honesty, parental advice, and discussing friendships were associated with increased positive feelings about the parent-student relationship the following day at the within-person level. Implications for future research and programming are discussed.