Texting May Cause Antisocial Behavior in Teens

For American teenagers, texting is a necessary part of keeping in touch with classmates and other friends in today's technological word.

Yet researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas have discovered that too much texting can lead to antisocial problems that may result in deviant behavior.

"We were interested in how adolescents use electronic communication, particularly text messaging," Dr. Samuel Ehrenreich, post-doctoral researcher in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UT Dallas said, via a press release. "We examined how discussing antisocial behavior - substance abuse, property crimes, physical aggression, that sort of thing - how discussing that predicts actually engaging in this problem behavior. Basically, does talking about bad behavior predict bad behavior?"

Researchers note that studying texting among teens isn't anything new. However, studying their actual messages has not yet been examined, according to background information from the study.

In order to properly carry out their project, 172 teen participants were given free BlackBerry devices and service plans with the understanding that their texts would be monitored. Thus, the texts were collected and stored offsite via a secure database in which participants were rated before and after the school year for rule breaking and aggressive behavior shown towards parents, teachers and in self-reports.

An analysis of text samples found similarities in antisocial patterns among boys and girls, including discussions regarding rule-breaking, illicit substance use, property crimes and physical aggression. While only 2 percent of participants showed these messages, a strong link was found between teenagers exchanging antisocial texts and ratings of antisocial and aggressive behavior seen towards the end of the school year.

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.