Will I develop a caffeine dependency by skipping 2 days? A couple of months a ago I broke my daily caffeine habit because I disliked waking up every morning already "needing" caffeine. But, I LOVE coffee and I LOVE the buzz caffeine provides. So, for the past couple of weeks I have remained disciplined in having caffeine every third day. My reasoning is based mostly on the fact that the first 48 hours of withdrawal is the worst part of it, so I thought that by waiting 72 hours, I could have my buzz a few times a week without developing a chemical dependency.

Does anyone have anything science-based that can further inform me as to whether my thinking is right on this?
You can absolutely develop a dependency.
The important thing to remember is that there are physical and mental aspects to addiction. If you look forward to it hard enough, any amount of time can pass and you can still crave it just as deeply. Sometimes a deep craving can even result in symptoms that shouldn't be explainable by chemical explanations [Psychosomatic effects].

It would also depend heavily on dosing. You would want to make sure that you don't try to compensate for your days off by going on a binge and placing yourself directly under the espresso maker until you've had 3 days worth! In fact, that could make the problem worse because the difference between your "on days" and off days would be so much greater you might await those days the same way a junkie looks forward to their next hit.

droog has the right idea. Try to see if there are ways to rotate in other substitutes for coffee. Maybe you enjoy the hot drink, or you look forward to the short break it takes to prepare it. Regardless, people just don't go well with negative feedback. If you feel as if you are deeply depriving yourself, then change your approach. The way to be successful is to find a way that cuts down your caffeine intake while also not feeling as if you have lost something.