Mobile Texting- A Crime with Teens

Hyper-Texting Associated with Health Risks for Teens

By TRACI PEDERSEN 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 9, 2010
Hyper-Texting Associated with Health Risks for Teens
Teens who spend excessive amounts of time texting and networking are associated with greater risk for unhealthy behaviors or mental health problems, according to a Case Western Reserve School of Medicine study.

The research was conducted to determine if communication technologies could be associated with poor health behaviors, including drinking, smoking, and sexual activity.  The study based its findings upon a sample of high school students from an urban Midwestern U.S. county.
According to the findings, nearly 20 percent of the participants were “hyper-texters.” The researchers defined “hyper-texting” as texting more than 120 messages per school day.  Many of these participants were female, from lower socioeconomic status, a member of a minority group, and had no father in the home.
Specifically, these hyper-texting teens were found to be highly at risk for the following:  they were 40 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes, two times more likely to have tried alcohol, 43 percent more likely to be binge drinkers, 41 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs, 55 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight, nearly three-and-a-half times more likely to have had sex and 90 percent 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 can have dangerous health effects on teenagers,” said Scott Frank, MD, MS, and lead study researcher and director of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine Master of Public Health program.
However, the study was not designed to determine causal relationships between hyper-texting and the other health behaviors studied.
“This should be a wake-up call for parents to not only help their children stay safe by not texting and driving, but by discouraging excessive use of the cell phone or social websites in general,” said Dr. Frank.
Furthermore, hyper-networking — spending more than three hours per school day on social networking sites — was reported by 11.5 percent of students.  Hyper-networking was linked to higher odds ratios for poor sleep, stress, depression, substance use, fighting, poor academics, suicide, television watching and having permissive parents.
Hyper-networking teens are 62 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes, 69 percent more likely to have had sex, 60 percent more likely to report four or more sexual partners, 79 percent more likely to have tried alcohol, 69 percent more likely to be binge drinkers, 84 percent more likely to have used illicit drugs and 94 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Blood Cholesterol Symptoms, Causes, Remedy and Diet

Image
High Blood Cholesterol Causes Hereditary Hypercholesterolaemia or increase in cholesterol is mainly a hereditary disorder. Excessive consumption of rich foods It is also caused by taking rich foods and fried foods: excessive consumption of milk and its products like clarified butter, butter, and cream; white flour, sugar, cakes, pastries, biscuits, cheese, and ice cream; and non-vegetarian foods like meat, fish, and eggs. Smoking, Drinking and Stress Other causes of increase in cholesterol are irregularity in habits, smoking and drinking alcohol. Stress has also been found to be a major cause of increased level of cholesterol. High Blood Cholesterol Home Remedies High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Lecithin Lecithin, also a fatty food substance and the most abundant of the phospholipids, is beneficial in case of increase in cholesterol level. It has the ability to break up cholesterol into small particles which can be easily handled by the system. With sufficient intake of...
Read more

San Francisco bans (Mac) Happy Meals

Image
The city's board of supervisors votes to forbid restaurants from giving away toys with meals that have high levels of calories, sugar and fat. The San Francisco board of supervisors voted by veto-proof margin to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat.  ( Karen Bleir / AFP / Getty Images ) "We're part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice," said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. "From San Francisco to New York City, the epidemic of  childhood obesity  in this country is making our kids sick, particularly kids from low income neighborhoods, at an alarming rate. It's a survival issue and a day-to-day issue." Just after the vote, McDonald's spokeswoman Danya Proud said, "We are extremely disappointed with today's decision. It's not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for." The ban, already enacted...
Read more

Home Remedies for Menopausal Disorders

Image
Menopause or cessation of menses in women is a normal event which occurs in the mid or late forties. It signifies the end of the female reproductive period of life, which commences at adolescence in the early teens. Menopausal Disorders symptoms Hot flushes, night sweats, tension, insomnia, diminished interest in sex, irritability At the time of menopause, the entire chain of endocrine glands is affected, particularly, the gonads, thyroid, and pituitary glands. In some women, the menopausal change takes place without any unpleasant symptoms, the only change really being the cessation of menstrual flow. There are, however, many women who develop disturbing symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, tension, insomnia, diminished interest in sex, irritability, and depression. Other symptoms are fatigue, palpitations, dizziness, headaches, and numbness.  Lack of a normal hormonal balance Disturbing symptoms associated with menopause arise from the fact that the ovaries are no long...
Read more