https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8558-0977
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ABSTRACT
Grandparents increasingly use both technologically-mediated and in-person communication to nurture relationships with their grandchildren. Framed using the communication interdependence perspective (CIP), this study examined associations among family communication patterns (FCPs), integration of face-to-face and technologically-mediated communication, and relationship satisfaction to explore grandparent-grandchild relationships. Analysis of survey responses from 379 grandparents in the United States indicated that conversation orientation was positively associated with constructive integration, whereas both warm and cold conformity orientations were positively associated with destructive integration. Constructive integration was positively associated with relationship satisfaction and destructive integration was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. Significant indirect effects between FCPs, integration, and relationship satisfaction also were identified.
Acknowledgments
None.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Some of the participants (n = 86) completed the full 15-item conversation orientation scale from the Family Communication Patterns scale (RFCP, Ritchie & Fitzpatrick, 1990). The reduced four-item subscale was significantly correlated with the full 15-item version of the scale, r(86) = .82, p < .001.