“The Distance and Time Difference Aren’t Helping”: Family Communication Practices of African Graduate Students Adapting to a New Country

This qualitative study examined how international graduate students maintained long-distance communication with family members while adapting to life in the United States. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven international students, the research explored how participants sustained emotional closeness, manage disclosure, and select communication media across geographic distance. Guided by Communication Privacy Management Theory and Media Richness Theory, the study analyzed how students regulated private information and strategically used video calls, voice calls, and messaging platforms to meet relational and emotional needs. Findings revealed four primary themes: reliance on digital communication technologies; the emotional and psychological functions of family communication; structural and emotional challenges, including time zone differences and selective disclosure; and adaptive strategies that support both connection and independence. This study contributes to scholarship on transnational family communication by highlighting the relational labor and strategic media use that shape international students’ cross-border family ties.