Sending an affectionate text message to your partner may put a smile on their face, however couples who attempt to work out differences or apologise via text may be heading for trouble.

US researchers looked at 276 young adults who were married, engaged or considered themselves in serious relationships. Each couple underwent an extensive relationship assessment, which included questions about the use of technology in their relationship.

The study found that at least eight in 10 of the participants sent and received text messages with their partner multiple times a day. However these were not always straightforward messages, such as ‘what will we have for dinner?'.

In fact, many of the participants were using text messages for ‘relationship maintenance' - in other words, conversations aimed at resolving some kind of issue between the pair.

The researchers from Brigham Young University said that while it is obviously very important to try to resolve issues, doing it via text can cause problems.

"Technology is more important to relationship formation than it was previously. The way couples text is having an effect on the relationship as well. Reaction to disappointment and reality testing occurs more quickly face to face. There is a narrowness with texting and you don't get to see the breadth of a person that you need to see," they explained.

They found that among women, using text messages to make decisions, work out differences or apologise led to a lower-quality relationship.

In men meanwhile, too much texting was linked to poorer relationship quality. And this did not just refer to sending a lot of texts, it also referred to receiving a lot.

"We're wondering if this means men disconnect and replace in-person conversations with more texting. Maybe as they exit the relationship, they text more frequently because that's a safer form of communication. We don't know why, that is just a conjecture," the researchers said.

However, they added that saying something loving in a text enhances a relationship, whether you are male or female. In fact, sending loving or affectionate texts was more strongly related to relationship satisfaction than receiving them.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy.