When Distance is Problematic: Communication, Coping, and Relational Satisfaction in Female College Students' Long-Distance Dating Relationships

Abstract

This manuscript is one of many in a special issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research on “Communication and Distance,” Volume 38, No. 1. The purposes of this study are to gain an in-depth understanding of the situations in which long-distance dating relationships (LDDRs) are distressing for female college students, and to examine the associations between the perceived helpfulness of various communication coping strategies and relational satisfaction in both high and low distress LDDRs. Results indicate that the perceived helpfulness of joint problem solving was a major predictor of satisfaction among participants in low distress LDDRs, whereas the perceived helpfulness of openness was a major predictor of satisfaction among the participants in high distress LDDRs. Implications for research on LDDRs and coping are discussed.