Predictors and overestimation of recalled mobile phone use among children and adolescents.
Aydin D, Feychting M, Schüz J, Andersen TV, Poulsen AH, Prochazka M, Klæboe L, Kuehni CE, Tynes T, Röösli M. · 2011
View Original AbstractChildren consistently overestimate their mobile phone use, undermining the reliability of most EMF health studies that depend on self-reported exposure data.
Plain English Summary
Researchers compared what children and teens said about their mobile phone use to actual phone company records from the same time period. They found that young people consistently overestimated how much they used their phones, with the tendency to overestimate linked to factors like age and gender. This matters because many studies on mobile phone health effects rely on people accurately remembering and reporting their phone use.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a critical flaw in EMF health research that has likely skewed decades of findings. When young people overestimate their mobile phone use by predictable patterns based on age and gender, studies that rely on self-reported exposure data become fundamentally unreliable. The reality is that most EMF health studies depend on participants accurately recalling their device usage, yet this research demonstrates such recall is systematically biased. What this means for you is that many studies showing 'no effect' from mobile phone use may have misclassified exposure levels, potentially masking real health impacts. The science demonstrates that objective exposure measurement, not self-reporting, should be the gold standard for EMF research.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
In this study, we used data from the international case–control study CEFALO to compare self-reported with objectively operator-recorded mobile phone use. The aim of the study was to assess predictors of level of mobile phone use as well as factors that are associated with overestimating own mobile phone use.
For cumulative number and duration of calls as well as for time since first subscription we calculat...
The cumulative number and duration of calls as well as the time since first subscription of mobile p...
Show BibTeX
@article{d_2011_predictors_and_overestimation_of_1857,
author = {Aydin D and Feychting M and Schüz J and Andersen TV and Poulsen AH and Prochazka M and Klæboe L and Kuehni CE and Tynes T and Röösli M.},
title = {Predictors and overestimation of recalled mobile phone use among children and adolescents.},
year = {2011},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079610711000988},
}