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Brain & Nervous System

Mobile phone use, behavioural problems and concentration capacity in adolescents: A prospective study

No Effects Found

Roser K, Schoeni A, Röösli M · 2016

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One-year study of 439 teens found no lasting connection between mobile phone use and behavioral or concentration problems.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Swiss researchers followed 439 adolescents for one year to see if cell phone use affected their behavior and concentration. While they found some connections in initial snapshots, these links disappeared when tracking the teens over time. The study concludes that mobile phone radiation doesn't cause behavioral problems or concentration issues in teenagers.

Study Details

The aim of this study is to prospectively investigate whether exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted by mobile phones and other wireless communication devices is related to behavioural problems or concentration capacity in adolescents.

The HERMES (Health Effects Related to Mobile phonE use in adolescentS) study sample consisted of 439...

In the cross-sectional analyses behavioural problems were associated with several self-reported wire...

The lack of consistent exposure-response patterns in the longitudinal analyses suggests that behavioural problems and concentration capacity are not affected by the use of wireless communication devices or RF-EMF exposure. Information bias and reverse causality are likely explanations for the observed cross-sectional findings.

Cite This Study
Roser K, Schoeni A, Röösli M (2016). Mobile phone use, behavioural problems and concentration capacity in adolescents: A prospective study . Int J Hyg Environ Health.; 219(8):759-769, 2016.
Show BibTeX
@article{k_2016_mobile_phone_use_behavioural_2801,
  author = {Roser K and Schoeni A and Röösli M},
  title = {Mobile phone use, behavioural problems and concentration capacity in adolescents: A prospective study},
  year = {2016},
  
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463916300645},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

A 2016 Swiss study following 439 adolescents for one year found no evidence that cell phone radiation causes behavioral problems in teenagers. While researchers initially saw some connections, these disappeared when tracking teens over time, suggesting mobile phone use doesn't affect behavior.
Research tracking 439 Swiss teens for a full year found that mobile phone use doesn't impact concentration capacity. Though some initial associations appeared in snapshot data, the longitudinal study showed no consistent patterns linking phone radiation to concentration problems.
A prospective study of 439 teenagers found no evidence that cell phone radiation harms adolescent brain function or development. The research specifically examined behavioral problems and concentration capacity, finding no causal relationship with mobile phone use over time.
According to a year-long study of Swiss adolescents, there are no behavioral risks from phone radiation. Researchers found that apparent connections between mobile phone use and behavioral problems were likely due to reporting bias rather than actual radiation effects.
A 2016 longitudinal study found that mobile phone use doesn't impact teen attention span or concentration capacity. While cross-sectional data initially suggested connections, tracking 439 adolescents over time revealed no consistent relationship between phone use and attention problems.