Media multitasking in the classroom: Problematic mobile phone use and impulse control as predictors of texting in the classroom

The present study investigated the relation among texting in the classroom, problematic mobile phone use, and executive function. Undergraduate students aged between 18 and 25 years old (68 males and 95 females) completed questionnaires to assess the frequency of texting in the classroom as well as levels of problematic mobile phone use and executive functioning. Hierarchical regressions were performed to evaluate the relative contributions of problematic mobile phone use and executive function in predicting the frequency of texting in class. The results show that problematic mobile phone use was a significant predictor of texting in the classroom after controlling for age, gender, and years of education. The results also show that a subscale of executive function, impulse control, was a significant predictor of texting in the classroom over and above problematic mobile phone use after controlling for the demographic variables. These results support a general conclusion that problematic mobile phone use and impulse control are important factors in one form of media multitasking—texting in the classroom.