Compulsive Texters Similar To Gamblers

“It appears that it is the compulsive nature of texting, rather than sheer frequency, that is problematic”, Kelly M. Lister-Landman, lead researcher of the study, said in a statement.

New research suggests that teen girls who are addicted to texting are more likely to do worse academically than their male counterparts with the same habit.

The study of more than 400 eighth and 11th graders found that many teenage texters had a lot in common with compul sive gamblers, including losing sleep because of texting, problems cutting back on texting and lying to cover up the amount of time they spent tex ting. However, they do indicate a significant trend. “Therefore, it may be that the nature of the texts girls send and receive is more distracting, thus interfering with their academic adjustment”. Boys aren’t as likely to engage in compulsive texting, perhaps due to the fact that they are less inclined to take part in all the conversations and topics circulating in their group of friends or in the school. The research found that girls are especially at risk because they compulsively text far more than boys.

The study doesn’t establish a correlation between girls’ academic performance and compulsive texting. With the temptation of always being connected so easily at hand, there is little one can do about it. Also, it’s important to note that the texting itself isn’t as likely to be responsible for the school problems as the divided attention span. As a psychologist tells the New York Times, that time spent checking the phone is time not spent studying or doing homework. It accounted for just 403 students, and the grades were self-reported.