--- title: Girls Who Compulsively Text May Have Poorer Grades description: A study shows that adolescent girls tend to compulsively text at higher rates than boys. canonical: https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-13T17:28:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:44:14.470Z article:section: Health og:title: When Girls Compulsively Text, Their Grades May Suffer og:description: It might be because of the different reasons why girls and boys text og:url: https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8032180e3dcb1695/698866ebcf40a80888c400e9/compulsive-texting-girls-grades.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5128 og:image:height: 2885 og:image:alt: compulsive texting girls grades og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Girls Compulsively Text, Their Grades May Suffer twitter:description: It might be because of the different reasons why girls and boys text twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8032180e3dcb1695/698866ebcf40a80888c400e9/compulsive-texting-girls-grades.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Girls Compulsively Text, Their Grades Suffer > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: OMG! The World's Fastest Texters Square Off [Watch (HLS stream): OMG! The World's Fastest Texters Square Off](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ATJFrFfa.m3u8) (5:04)  _Published 2011-02-28. Briana Hendrickson is America's speediest texter. But how will she do against the fastest thumbs in the world?_  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Oct 13, 2015 5:28 PM UTC  Teenage Girl using Cell Phone. (Photo by: Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images) Teenage Girl using Cell Phone. (Photo by: Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images) Media for Medical / UIG—Getty Images  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Oct 13, 2015 5:28 PM UTC While adolescent girls and boys text at the same rates, girls tend to text more compulsively than boys—and their grades might suffer as a result, a new [study](http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000100.pdf) found. The [Pew Research Center study](http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/03/19/teens-smartphones-texting/) of Millennial communication habits, published in the American Psychological Association’s _Psychology of Popular Media_ journal, found that texting is hugely popular among teenagers, with 63% of teens reporting they send and receive an average of 167 texts per day. (Only 35% report socializing face-to-face outside of school.) Researchers surveyed 403 students in the 8th and 11th grades in a rural Midwestern town, roughly evenly divided by gender, about their academic performance. They also created a “compulsive texting scale,” which differentiated between whether a person reported compulsively texting or simply frequently texting with questions like, “Do you find yourself frustrated because you want to text but you have to wait?” and “Do you fear that life without texting would be boring and unhappy?” “Compulsive texting is more complex than frequency of texting,” said lead author Kelly Lister-Landman, an assistant professor of psychology at Delaware County Community College. “It involves trying and failing to cut back on texting, becoming defensive when challenged about the behavior, and feeling frustrated when one can’t do it.” But Lister-Landman hesitates to use the word “addiction” with compulsive texting, saying that she preferred not to use a clinical term with what psychologists view as a maladaptive behavior. In other words, while compulsively texting can be a problem, it may not be clinical disorder. The findings show a gender disparity: while boys and girls both text at about the same rates, girls compulsively text about 20% more than boys. There also seems to be a connection between poor grades and compulsive texting that affects girls more strongly than boys. The reasons why this is the case could come down to the different reasons why girls and boys text. A [previous study](http://www.american.edu/cas/lfs/faculty-docs/upload/See-You-Online.pdf) showed that while boys tend to text to convey information, girls use texting as a means of social interaction and developing relationships, whether they be familial, friendly or romantic. The study has limitations in its demographic: respondents were primarily Caucasian attendees of a school in middle America. The research group also wants to figure out whether there are differences in who is sending and receiving texts and whether that affects compulsive texting. Lister-Landman stressed that the study doesn’t mean that all texting is bad. “Sure, this study shows the impact of compulsive texting on grades,” she said. “But texting can be a wonderful tool of communication.” ### PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today  1916 A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I. Paul Thompson—FPG/Getty Images  1970 French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point'). Keystone/Holton/Getty Images  1980 An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London. Kypros/Getty Images  1983 Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on an FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work. Lyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images  1986 THE A-TEAM "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5\. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith. Bill Dow—NBC/Getty Images  1992 Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talks on a cell phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25. Mark Lennihan—AP  1993 Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  1997 A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi. India Today Group/Getty Images  2001 A woman watches smoke pour out of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on September 11. Nicholas Goldberg—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  2011 A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 in Ben Jawat, Libya. John Moore—Getty Images  2011 A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images  2012 Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida. Marc Serota—Getty Images  2014 A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast. The Queen has apparently voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones. Peter Macdiarmid—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP ## Transcript >> It is time to get this. >> LG Mobile World Cup World Championship party started. >> LG Mobile World Cup World Championship party started. >> With an energized crowd and a pep rally fit for a football game-- >> Give me a T. >> T. >> What's that spell? Text. Text. Text. >> Contestants from all around the world, including Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, and Panama, take to the stage, stretch their thumbs, and prepare to find out who's the world's fastest texter. >> Yeah. Very excited. >> Representing the United States this year is thirteen- year- old Brianna Hendrickson. From her Brooklyn bedroom, she has been preparing for this tournament by, well, doing what she usually does. >> I'm usually on my laptop and texting, watching TV and texting, with my friends and I'm texting, I'm reading a book and I'll like stop and respond and pick the book back up again. >> In fact, raking up around 7, 000 texts a month, it's a rare sight to see Brianna without her phone in hand. >> Sorry. >> Our LG US National Texting champion is-- >> But last September, all that practice paid off-- >> Brianna. >> when she grabbed first place in the National Texting Tournament and the $ 50, 000 that came with it. >> I didn't expect to win. I don't think anybody else was expecting me to win. I don't know. After I won, it was like this is really happening. I really just won the texting contest. >> The win also earned her a spot in this year's Mobile World Cup where she'll have a shot at another fifty grand, facing off against texters from twelve other countries. With the tournament just five days away, Brianna finally has an excuse for her excessive texting, but that doesn't mean her parents let her. >> 'Cause I'd, " Brianna, stop texting. Just put your phone down and relax. Loosen up ." >> Brianna, put that phone down before I throw it out the window. I've had enough, enough. >> Mark and Amy Hendrickson took a while to warm out to the idea of her daughter texting competitively. >> I thought the texting competition was a scam. We were there to support her. We didn't know what we were getting into. We were just, " This is something Brianna wants to do-- >> And for it to turn out the way it did, it was like, OMG. >> Brianna has taken up a few training exercises for the upcoming championship. Today, she is timing herself as she texts a random paragraph from the Directory of New York City Public High Schools. >> Good enough. >> But even with all the practice, it's hard to imagine anything could prepare her for what she was about to enter. The competitors today are from thirteen different countries texting in seven different languages. And the tournament organizers have done their due diligence to ensure a level playing field. >> There has been much research in discovering which words resembled the same amount of keystrokes and difficulty in distance between keys to make sure that the stroke value is the same amongst all words. >> Three, two, one. Go. >> Three, two, one. Go. >> Brianna and her teammate Angel have five rounds to grab one of the top six spots to compete in the finals. Each round, players have to correctly text the twenty words presented on the screen in front of them. They received points based on how fast they finished. >> You have [ unk ]. >> I really, really wanna win 'cause last year, Team USA came at- second place, so I-- hopefully, I can. >> The South Koreans are the reigning champions, and after the first two rounds, it's clear. They are Brianna's toughest competition. >> I put a lot of pressure on myself. I need to pay my tuition next year. >> And the [ unk ]. >> Heading into the final round, the Koreans are sitting comfortable in the top spot. In fifth place, Brianna and Angel are facing one more round in which the top two spots will advance. The players' progress is represented by an arcade- like racing game, displayed for the crowd to follow along. Thailand and the US are neck and neck until the Americans speed ahead in the final seconds and claimed the spot in the last round. >> You've got this, Bri. You got this. You got this. >> But the final round pushed too much for Brianna and Angel. It is Team Panama that upsets the defending champions and claimed the title of the fastest texters in the world. >> It was an [ unk ]. Yeah. I mean, USA, Koreans-- >> Yeah. >> so good on practice and we always failed practice but we dedicate some time yesterday of a long and [ unk ]. We make it. >> It was a disappointing finish for Brianna but she's already thinking about how to get back [ unk ]. >> Text more. >> Text more? Oh no. >> For Time video, this is Jacob Templin from New York. -[ unk ] text more. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/"},"headline":"When Girls Compulsively Text, Their Grades Suffer","datePublished":"2015-10-13T17:28:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:44:14.470Z","description":"Boys and girls, however, tend to text at the same frequencies","url":"https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Tech","Millennials","Social Media","Smartphones","Teenagers","Teens","texting","Research","Addiction"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8032180e3dcb1695/698866ebcf40a80888c400e9/compulsive-texting-girls-grades.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8032180e3dcb1695/698866ebcf40a80888c400e9/compulsive-texting-girls-grades.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"compulsive texting girls grades","caption":"girl using cell phone near textbooks","creditText":"Media for Medical / UIG—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4061560/compulsive-texting-boys-girls/","name":"When Girls Compulsively Text, Their Grades Suffer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"OMG! 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