The Social Ties Lab

Congratulations to lab student Abigail for receiving the top MA paper at University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information’s 2026 graduate student research expo!

New blog out in Psychology Today! 📱💬

Dr. America Edwards (University of Kentucky School of Information Science)recently wrote about research from her dissertation, published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, examining how mothers and daughters stay connected during the first year of college. Drawing on conversations with 126 mother–daughter pairs, the work explores how everyday communication practices, like texting, FaceTime, social media, and even location sharing, help families maintain a sense of connection when distance becomes routine.

Rather than asking whether technology is “good” or “bad” for relationships, the study focuses on how families actually use these tools to navigate major life transitions. Many pairs described recreating a sense of everyday presence through small check-ins, photos, memes, and quick updates throughout the day.

You can read the Psychology Today blog here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-ties-that-connect-us/202602/texts-tracking-and-the-first-year-of-college

University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information

Texts, Tracking, and the First Year of College From texting to location sharing, 126 mother–daughter pairs described how they maintain connection during the first year of college.

We are so excited to share that two of our lab M.A. students have selected their PhD programs!

Abigail Heuton will be continuing her academic journey in the Communication PhD program within the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information.

Anyiah Simone will be joining the Communication PhD program at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

We are incredibly proud of both of them and excited to see where their research takes them next. Please join us in congratulating Abigail and Anyiah on this exciting next chapter!

Our final event of 2025 featured an engaging session with the Illinois Chapter of Braver Angels, which is a citizens' organization dedicated to uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize the country. In this month’s session, we explored the political messages we receive from family members and their influence on us and we previewed the lab’s current research initiatives. We’re looking forward to partnering with the Illinois chapter again in the spring to share our findings!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at National Communication Association 2025 in Denver later this week! The screenshots below include presentations from our lab (Drs. Edwards and Jones are each presenting on full papers and graduate students Abigail Heuton and Amanda Gyesi are each presenting on works in progress)!

🎁 Looking to make a little extra money before holiday shopping?

We still have a limited number of spots left this year in our paid study on how parents and adult children talk about politics — especially when they don’t always agree.

If you and your parent/child chat regularly and have ever had a political disagreement (big or small), we’d love to have you!

💸 Each of you can earn up to $60, plus a chance to win an extra $100 raffle.

The study is all online, takes just a few minutes each week, and helps us better understand how families stay connected even when they disagree.

If you’re interested (or know someone who might be), let us know — we’re closing enrollment soon! 🕒

We are excited to launch recruitment efforts for our study examining political differences among parents and their adult children!

You may be eligible if you:

• are 18+ years old
• are fluent in English and reside in the United States
• Have reliable internet access
• Have a parent or child who also meets the above criteria, speaks with you at least 3x a week, holds different political beliefs, is willing to participate with you, and with whom you’ve experienced political conflict in the past six months.

Following the conclusion of your participation, you will be offered:

• up to $60 on compensation ($10 for each of the 6 study components: six weekly follow-up surveys)
• a chance to win an additional $100 gift card — dyads who complete all 6 components will be entered into a drawing for a bonus gift card.

If you and your parent or child are interested, please complete our screening survey at
https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SYIXooQGzZovEG

You will be asked to provide the contact information of the parent or child that you wish to participate with, so please check with them first.

Please all feel free to share with your networks! We are excited to pursue this research.

Hannah Jones, PhD & America L. Edwards, PhD
College of Communication & Information University of Kentucky

Super excited to share that lab co-directors Drs. America Edwards and Hannah Jones each won a top dissertation award via the National Communication Association’s Interest Group Awards this year! Details below.

Human Communication & Technology Division America L. Edwards, “Maintaining Ties in the Digital Age: How Self-Disclosure and Co-Rumination Shape Mother-Daughter Communication Amidst the College Transition”

Family Communication Division
Sandra Petronio Dissertation Excellent Award Hannah Jones, “Communal Coping and Relational Turbulence Between Emerging Adult Children and their Surviving Parent After the Experience of Parental/Partner Death”

We are excited to launch recruitment efforts for our study examining political differences among parents and their adult children!

You may be eligible if you:

• are 18+ years old
• are fluent in English and reside in the United States
• Have reliable internet access
• Have a parent or child who also meets the above criteria, speaks with you at least 3x a week, holds different political beliefs, is willing to participate with you, and with whom you’ve experienced political conflict in the past six months.

Following the conclusion of your participation, you will be offered:

• up to $60 on compensation ($10 for each of the 6 study components: six weekly follow-up surveys)
• a chance to win an additional $100 gift card — dyads who complete all 6 components will be entered into a drawing for a bonus gift card.

If you and your parent or child are interested, please complete our screening survey at
https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SYIXooQGzZovEG

You will be asked to provide the contact information of the parent or child that you wish to participate with, so please check with them first.

Please all feel free to share with your networks! We are excited to pursue this research.

Hannah Jones, PhD & America L. Edwards, PhD
College of Communication & Information University of Kentucky

Seeking PAID Participants!

Do you and your parent or adult child hold different political beliefs? Have those differences led to conflict in your relationship within the past six months? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

We are looking for parent–child pairs (dyads) to participate in a study about how families navigate political conflict. To be eligible:

* The child must be between 18–29 years old

* You and your parent/child must talk at least three times per week

* You must have experienced conflict in your relationship due to politics within the past six months

* Both participants must live in the U.S., be fluent in English, have reliable internet, and have access to a computer with a working camera for a Zoom-recorded conversation

Each participant can earn up to $80 (or $160 per dyad) for completing 8 study components ($10 each) over a 6-week period. Dyads who complete the full study will also be entered into a drawing for a $100 bonus gift card.

If you and your parent/child are interested, please complete our short pre-screener survey here: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJbLxVFijWDGpiC

Please contact Drs. Hannah Jones (PI) and America Edwards (co-investigator) at [email protected] with questions.

🗣 Seeking participants for Anyiah Simone's MA thesis:

My name is Anyiah Chambers and I am working on my master’s thesis, under the supervision of Dr. America Edwards at the University of Kentucky. The purpose of this study is to learn more about how students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) respond to important campus messages. We’re interested in understanding student communication during campus situations that may affect safety or well-being. Your input will help researchers improve how colleges support students during urgent situations.

We are seeking participants who are:
- 18 years of age or older
- currently enrolled at an HBCU in the United States
- fluent in English.

Eligible participants will receive a $5.00 gift card for their time.

To complete the pre-screener, please visit https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_blytHnhcDuaFLmu

Study approved by University of Kentucky's Institutional Review Board (Protocol #: 104444).

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Congratulations to lab member Abigail Heuton on her first acceptance to the National Communication Association’s annual convention! She will present her research, “White Lies and Autism: How Emerging Adults on the Spectrum Navigate Deception in Relationships,” this November in Denver, Colorado.