Technology and face-to-face integration in daily life: an intensive longitudinal study of communication interdependence

The current study advances the communication interdependence perspective (CIP) using an intensive longitudinal design and recent refinements in the conceptualization of integration (i.e., how various channels are interconnected). U.S. adults in romantic relationships (N = 175) completed a baseline questionnaire, and then, provided daily diary data over 30 days (4,806 total observations), which we analyzed with dynamic structural equation modeling. Consistent with the CIP, for the typical person, constructive integration had a positive within-person effect (i.e., people felt closer on days that they had more constructive integration than usual) and a positive between-person association (i.e., people with more constructive integration reported more relational closeness on average across the month). Additionally, there was persistence in constructive integration, and persistence was stronger for people who reported more habitual patterns of integration earlier in the month. We discuss the implications for the CIP and for understanding how people mix media in daily life.