Teens' excessive use of texting, social media linked to risky behavior.
Subject: Social media (Health aspects)
Teenagers (Health aspects)
Teenagers (Behavior)
Teenagers (Surveys)
Youth (Health aspects)
Youth (Behavior)
Youth (Surveys)
Social networks (Health aspects)
Pub Date: 12/22/2010
Publication: Name: Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association Publisher: American Psychotherapy Association Audience: Academic; Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Psychology and mental health Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 American Psychotherapy Association ISSN: 1535-4075
Issue: Date: Winter, 2010 Source Volume: 13 Source Issue: 4
Product: Product Code: E121930 Youth
Accession Number: 248333937
Full Text: Parents of text-crazed teenagers might have more to be concerned about than sky-high cell phone bills, according to a Case Western Reserve University study that links excessive use of popular high-tech communications to risky health behaviors.

According to the study, 19.8% of teens surveyed reported hyper-texting--sending more than 120 messages per school day--and the data showed these students are 40% more likely to have tried cigarettes, two times more likely to have tried alcohol, 43% more likely to be binge drinkers, and 41% more likely to have used illicit drugs compared to their non-hyper-texting peers. In addition, these students are 55% more likely to have been in a physical fight, nearly three-and-a-half times more likely to have had sex, and 90% more likely to report four or more sexual partners.

"The startling results of this study suggest that when left unchecked texting and other widely popular methods of staying connected are associated with unhealthy behaviors among teenagers," said Scott Frank, MD, MS, lead researcher on the study and director of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Master of Public Health program. "This may be a wake-up call for parents to open a dialogue with their kids about the extent of texting and social networking they are involved with and about what is happening in the rest of their lives." Additionally, 11.5% of students surveyed reported hyper-networking, defined as spending more than three hours per school day on social networking Web sites, which is associated with higher levels of stress, depression, suicide, substance use, fighting, poor sleep, poor academics, television watching, and parental permissiveness.

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Case Western Reserve University (2010, November 9). Hyper-texting and hypernetworking linked to health risks for teens. Retrieved from http://case.edu/think/breakingnews/hypertexting.html
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