Antisocial Texting Among Children Linked with Bad Behavior

Children who send anti-social texts are at high risk of displaying deviant behavior, according to a new study.

Kids and teens send out about 60 to 100 texts every day. Most studies that look into texting habits in this age-group depend on self-report. Researchers from University of Texas at Dallas said that self-reports might not be an accurate way of determining texting habits as they have many flaws; the children might give inaccurate data or might have simply forgotten about the subject of their texts.

In the current study, 172 ninth-grade students were given free blackberry devices. All the participants were told that their texts would be monitored.

About two percent of all texts sent by the devices were about discussions about drug use, rule-breaking, aggression and property crimes. Researchers found that even this small percentage of messages had a strong link to the person's behaviour rating at the end of the school year.

"We know that peers are really influential in an adolescent's development. We also know that peer influence can lead to antisocial behavior at times, and this form of communication provides a new opportunity for peer influence," said Dr. Samuel Ehrenreich, post-doctoral researcher in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UT Dallas.  . "Texting is instantaneous, far-reaching and it has these unique characteristics that make it all the more powerful, and this provides a new opportunity for peer influence."

There was a positive side to texting as well. Researchers found that many texts were of students encouraging each other.

"Texting is meaningful, and within the archive we also saw positive, meaningful communications," Ehrenreich said in a news release. "We saw a lot of really heartfelt encouragement that goes on, on the spot, when the students needed it. I think there is a lot that's both good and bad, just like any other form communication. Texting matters."

The study is published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.