Scientists have pointed out the adverse effect of texting and social networking in teens.

A recent study conducted by US researchers has found that too much texting can lead to sleep problems in college students.

The study carried by a Washington and Lee University psychology professor, identified texting as a major culprit for sleeping disorders in college going teens and sleep problems.

Researcher Karla Murdock found that texting was a direct predictor of sleep problems among first-year students in a study that examined links among interpersonal stress, text-messaging behaviour, and three indicators of college students’ health: burnout, sleep problems and emotional well-being.

Study

The researcher questioned first year students and measured academic and social burnout, emotional well-being and sleep problems.

Murdock also asked the participants to estimate how many text messages they send and receive on an average day.

The study found that a higher number of daily texts was associated with more sleep problems.

“These correlational findings provide an initial indication that heavy text messaging could be problematic during times of stress,” Murdock wrote in the Psychology of Popular Media Culture journal.

“Although speculative, it could be argued that text messaging is a uniquely unsuitable mode of communication for coping with interpersonal stress in close relationships,” she wrote.

Texting hinders exercise time

In another study, texting was found to be one of the prime reasons for women complaining of lack of time to exercise.

In a survey commissioned by new High Intensity Interval Training fitness system, Tabata, it was found that three quarters of Britain’s women want to get fitter, but 40 percent of these women say that they don’t have the time.

According to the survey, over half of the women respondents, spend 30-60 minutes a day texting, while 47 percent of them spend 30-60 minutes using Facebook.