The ding of incoming texts on your kid’s phone is more than an annoyance and distraction. It could actually be a sign of compulsive or addictive behavior. Here are a few indicators of compulsive texting from a study published in the October 2015 issue of the Psychology of Popular Media Culture:
The study examined the texting habits of 400 8th and 11th graders and the impact of those behaviors on academic performance. Compulsive texting is defined by more than just sending a large number of texts. It also includes trying to decrease texting without success, defensiveness about use of texting and frustration when unable to text.
As Kelly M. Lister-Landman, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor of psychology at Delaware County Community College in Media, PA commented in a New York Times article,
“What is [texters’] relationship with phone use? Do they feel anxious when it’s not around them? When they sit down to eat dinner with their family, do they feel a need to check it? Do they feel compelled to look at it at all times, rather than just answering texts they get?”
Parents of girls should pay particular attention to this issue as compulsive texting has more negative academic consequences for adolescent girls, despite the fact that their overall academic functioning is higher than adolescent boys. The study notes that texting may create more anxiety and social distress for girls than boys and that the content of girls’ texts may be more distracting, thus leading to texting’s greater impact on their academic performance.
The study recommends that parents put the following safeguards in place:
This is where a contract with your kid can be a great tool. Click here for Screenager’s contracts.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000100.pdf
Here is a video from the Screenagers YouTube Channel that talks more about this subject
The ding of incoming texts on your kid’s phone is more than an annoyance and distraction. It could actually be a sign of compulsive or addictive behavior. Here are a few indicators of compulsive texting from a study published in the October 2015 issue of the Psychology of Popular Media Culture:
The study examined the texting habits of 400 8th and 11th graders and the impact of those behaviors on academic performance. Compulsive texting is defined by more than just sending a large number of texts. It also includes trying to decrease texting without success, defensiveness about use of texting and frustration when unable to text.
As Kelly M. Lister-Landman, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor of psychology at Delaware County Community College in Media, PA commented in a New York Times article,
“What is [texters’] relationship with phone use? Do they feel anxious when it’s not around them? When they sit down to eat dinner with their family, do they feel a need to check it? Do they feel compelled to look at it at all times, rather than just answering texts they get?”
Parents of girls should pay particular attention to this issue as compulsive texting has more negative academic consequences for adolescent girls, despite the fact that their overall academic functioning is higher than adolescent boys. The study notes that texting may create more anxiety and social distress for girls than boys and that the content of girls’ texts may be more distracting, thus leading to texting’s greater impact on their academic performance.
The study recommends that parents put the following safeguards in place:
This is where a contract with your kid can be a great tool. Click here for Screenager’s contracts.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000100.pdf
Here is a video from the Screenagers YouTube Channel that talks more about this subject
In my latest Podcast, I speak with Anna Lembke, head of addiction medicine at Stanford and author of Dopamine Nation, as well as a young woman who was formally an aspiring influencer and driven by all the likes and such that come with social media. I’d love for you to listen to the podcast. OR, I’ve included the transcript here for you to read it.
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