The Role of Compulsive Texting in Adolescents' Academic Functioning

Text messaging has increased dramatically among adolescents over the past 10 years. Many researchers have cited potential consequences associated with a high frequency of texting and problematic texting behaviors. This study examines the relations among frequency of texting, a specific type of problematic texting (i.e., compulsive texting), and adolescents' academic achievement and attitudes about school. Adolescents in 8th (n = 211) and 11th (n = 192) grades participated in this study. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, teens' compulsive texting was significantly positively related to their frequency of texting and negatively related to their grades, school bonding, and perceived scholastic competence. It is noteworthy that the negative relation between compulsive texting and academic functioning held true only for females and not for males. Actively preventing or reducing compulsive texting may ameliorate the potential effects of texting on academic adjustment in adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).