Use of instant messaging predicts self-report but not performance measures of inattention, impulsiveness, and distractibility.

We examined how young adults' use of instant messaging, text messaging, and traditional reading related to their self-reported experience of distractibility and impulsiveness and to their performance on computerized tasks designed to assess inattention and impulsive responses to visual stimuli. Participants reported their media use and completed self-report measures of impulsiveness (i.e., the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale) and distractibility for academic reading. They also completed performance based measures of inattention and impulsiveness using the Tests of Variables of Attention (T.O.V.A.(®)). Results demonstrated that instant message use was significantly related to higher levels of attentional impulsiveness and distractibility on the self-report measures, while traditional reading consistently predicted lower levels of impulsiveness and distractibility. However, media use was not significantly related to the performance measures of inattention and behavioral impulsiveness.

Electronic media use, reading, and academic distractibility in college youth.

Activities that require focused attention, such as reading, are declining among American youth, while activities that depend on multitasking, such as instant messaging (IMing), are increasing. We hypothesized that more time spent IMing would relate to greater difficulty in concentrating on less externally stimulating tasks (e.g., academic reading). As hypothesized, the amount of time that young people spent IMing was significantly related to higher ratings of distractibility for academic tasks, while amount of time spent reading books was negatively related to distractibility. The distracting nature and the context of IMing in this population are described.

Serum cholesterol concentrations and non-physical aggression in healthy adults.

Although physical aggression in humans and other primates appears to be negatively associated with total serum cholesterol (TSC) concentrations, the relationship between other forms of aggression and TSC is less clear. A plurality of studies have reported a positive association, some have reported no association, and a minority have reported a negative association. Some authors have speculated that the variability in findings is attributable to inconsistencies in the definitions and measurement of what has often been termed "verbal" aggression. Buss and Perry have developed the Aggression Questionnaire, a theoretically-derived and empirically validated self-report measure of aggression that breaks aggression into subcomponents. One hundred and seventy-one college students and university personnel were recruited to participate in a cholesterol screening health initiative and then invited to participate in a study of mood and cholesterol. They completed a Demographic Questionnaire, and the Aggression Questionnaire. Regression analyses with age and Body Mass Index (BMI) as covariates revealed that anger, hostility, and verbal aggression significantly predicted TSC. Physical aggression did not. This finding suggests that non-physical forms of aggression may constitute a risk factor for coronary artery disease and one that may be worthy of targeting through behavioral interventions such as anger management training.