When Does Technology Use Within Dating Relationships Cross the Line? A Thematic Analysis of Semistructured Interviews With Young Adults

Objective: Scholars often inconsistently define, measure, and conceptualize cyber dating abuse (DA) across empirical studies. Additionally, there is a disconnect between the cyber behaviors that scholars consider to be problematic in dating relationships and social norms among young people. This study aimed to identify cyber behaviors that young adults considered to be problematic in dating relationships. Method: We collected qualitative data using semistructured interviews. The sample (N = 117; ages 18-25; 59.6% women, 38.6% men, 1.8% other [e.g., nonbinary people]) consisted of college students and community young adults with diverse sexual, racial, and ethnic identities. We analyzed semistructured interviews using thematic analysis. Results: Several themes emerged, including constant communication with a partner, controlling behavior, cyber aggression perpetration, stalking a partner’s social media, and technology changing one’s way of life. We identified two subthemes within constant communication: Constant communication with a partner leading to problems and reactive cyber aggression when a partner does not maintain constant communication. Two subthemes emerged within the controlling behavior theme, including controlling a partner’s social media and monitoring/tracking a partner. Conclusions: Results identified cyber behaviors that may be normalized in modern dating relationships and may provide important behavioral targets for cyber DA preventive interventions. These findings can also inform future efforts to create comprehensive, consistent measures of cyber DA that reflect the terminology used and values held by young adults. Future studies should consider employing mixed method designs to assess how attitudes toward problematic cyber behaviors may vary across young adults’ identities, education level, and past experiences.