A recent study on social networking has linked excessive texting with risky behaviors such as sexual intercourse and drinking in teenage populations. Excessive texting, or “hypertexting,” is defined as texting 120 times or more over the course of a day.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Scott Frank of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, found that one in five teenagers assessed in the study were “hyper-texters,” reported Foodconsumer.org. These participants were three and a half times more likely to engage in sexual activity than those with normal texting habits.
The study also found that “hyper-networkers” – teens that spend three or more hours a day on social networking sites – were more likely to engage in underage drinking than their hyper-texting counterparts, but less likely to have sex.
Dr. Frank concluded that teens with extreme texting habits are often more susceptible to peer pressure and have permissive or absent parents.
