(Press-News.org) CLEVELAND – November 9, 2010—Texting while driving can be a deadly combination for anyone. Yet, new data released today reveal that the dangers of excessive texting among teens are not limited to the road. Hyper-texting and hyper-networking are now giving rise to a new health risk category for this age group.
Scott Frank, MD, MS, lead researcher on the study and director of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine Master of Public Health program, presented the findings today at the American Public Health Association's 138th Annual Meeting & Exposition in Denver. Researchers surveyed a cross section of high school students from an urban Midwestern County and assessed whether use of communication technology could be associated with poor health behaviors, including smoking, drinking and sexual activity.
According to the research, hyper-texting, defined as texting more than 120 messages per school day, was reported by 19.8 percent of teens surveyed, many of whom were female, from lower socioeconomic status, minority and had no father in the home. Drawing from the data, teens who are hyper-texters are 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 Frank. "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."
Additionally, hyper-networking, defined as spending more than three hours per school day on social networking websites, was reported by 11.5 percent of students and associated with higher odds ratios for stress, depression, suicide, substance use, fighting, poor sleep, poor academics, television watching and parental permissiveness. Teens who are hyper-networkers are 62 percent more likely to have tried cigarettes, 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, 94 percent more likely to have been in a physical fight, 69 percent more likely to have had sex and 60 percent more likely to report four or more sexual partners.
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Information for Media:
The APHA Annual Meeting Press Office will be located in Room 202 of the Colorado Convention Center. The full Annual Meeting program and abstracts are available online at http://www.apha.org/meetings/sessions/. Final programs with session locations, along with daily highlights and other press materials, will be available on site at the APHA Press Office. Please visit our website for additional Annual Meeting press information.
Researcher: Scott Frank, MD, MS
Session 4272: Hyper-texting and hyper-networking: A new health risk category for teens?
Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2010: 3:35 PM
Abstract available: http://apha.confex.com/apha/138am/webprogram/Paper224927.html
About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school of medicine.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 20 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News &World Report "Guide to Graduate Education."
The School of Medicine's primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu.
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