Psychophysiological Patterns During Cell Phone Text Messaging: A Preliminary Study

• Published in: Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 53 - 57
• Main Authors: Lin, I-Mei, Peper, Erik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.03.2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abdomen; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biofeedback; Biofeedback, Psychology; Blood Volume - physiology; Cell Phone; Cellular telephones; Cohen's d; College students; Colleges & universities; Communication; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Electromyography; Female; Fingers & toes; Galvanic Skin Response - physiology; Health Psychology; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Male; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Neck pain; Physiology; Psychology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Psychotherapy and Counseling; Public Health; Questionnaires; Respiration; Respiratory Mechanics - physiology; Sensors; Skin Temperature; Strain gauges; Surveys and Questionnaires; Text messaging; Young Adult; United States > US; San Francisco California; Biofeedback; Electromyography; Texting messages; Respiration; Cell phones
• ISSN: 1090-0586; 1573-3270; 1573-3270
• DOI: 10.1007/s10484-009-9078-1

This study investigated the psychohysiological patterns associated with cell phone text messaging (texting). Twelve college students who were very familiar with texting were monitored with surface electromyography (SEMG) from the shoulder (upper trapezius) and thumb (abductor pollicis brevis/opponens pollicis); blood volume pulse (BVP) from the middle finger, temperature from the index finger, and skin conductance (SC) from the palm of the non-texting hand; and respiration from the thorax and abdomen. The counter-balanced procedure consisted of a 2 min pre-baseline, 1 min receiving text messages, 2 min middle baseline, 1 min sending text messages and 2 min post-baseline. The results indicated that all subjects showed significant increases in respiration rate, heart rate, SC, and shoulder and thumb SEMG as compared to baseline measures. Eighty-three percentage of the participants reported hand and neck pain during texting, and held their breath and experienced arousal when receiving text messages. Subjectively, most subjects were unaware of their physiological changes. The study suggests that frequent triggering of these physiological patterns (freezing for stability and shallow breathing) may increase muscle discomfort symptoms. Thus, participants should be trained to inhibit these responses to prevent illness and discomfort.