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.

技术辅助交流在促进父母与离家生活的新兴成年大学生之间的关系方面发挥着关键作用。根据媒体多元性理论，我们调查了大学生用来与父母沟通的渠道，以及使用和未使用的渠道对感知的亲子关系的影响。对美国 44 名本科生进行了半结构化访谈。学生使用多种渠道与家长联系，尽管有些渠道专门用于同龄人。与交流曲目规模（CRS）相关的主题包括交流频率、交流内容和出现的父母性别；与沟通差距大小 (CGS) 相关的主题包括学生感知的技术差距、隐私问题、和代际差异。高 CRS 二元组的学生认为沟通技术提高或维持了亲子关系质量，而高 CGS 二元组的学生报告说沟通技术恶化或不影响亲子关系。