JupiterResearch: News Flash: Teens Have Angst

It must be all thing Korean this week at JupiterResearch. Yesterday, Julie Ask wrote about T-Mobile, Helio and Koreans in the U.S, and now David Card posts at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs about a recent "South Korean study correlating heavy mobile phone usage with teen angst.

According to an article in the LA Times on the topic:

A survey of 575 South Korean high school students found that the top third of users — students who used their phones more than 90 times a day — frequently did so because they were unhappy or bored. They scored significantly higher on tests measuring depression and anxiety than students who used their phones a more sedate 70 times daily.

Card then points out "the study was overweighted toward boys, and the top third heavy users were communicating by cellphone on average about every 10 minutes during waking hours. The vast majority of their usage was in text messages." Card concludes:

Don't worry. American teens still talk to their friends face to face. While more (loser?) boys (14%) than girls (8%) text for flirting, my soon-to-be-published report on cool girls -- popular teens who are fashion tastemakers -- shows that they spend more time talking on their cellies (5 hours/week) than the average teen girl (2 hours/week).