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Publication #FAR5001

 

Cell Phone Stress on Families1

Donna Davis2

Figure 1. 
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We all know teenagers today who think that they simply couldn't live without their cell phones. And how many parents have told the story of their own youth and their survival not only without cell phones but without the Internet as well? Many parents resisted getting cell phones for themselves and never dreamed of buying into the "family share" plans, but finally gave in with the justification that it would be good that their children would always be able to reach them.

Now researchers are finding that cell phones may have negative impacts on marriages and on family satisfaction, especially for working mothers. A major reason is because the technology is blurring work/family boundaries. According to a recent study from sociologists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while computers and cell phones have made it easier to work more flexible hours and to work from home, they have also made it easier to bring work problems home, and problems from home to work.

The study found that cell phone activity created stress in marriages as cell phones typically increased the negative spillover from work to home for both men and women. Women had the additional stress of having home issues spill into their work because the communication from home revolved around problems: family members called women at work for support or help with problems.

Our teenagers may be okay with being connected by cell phone 24/7, although this research indicates that it's not such a good thing for working parents . . . just yet.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our website at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/377.mp3

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/377.wav

Reference

Chesley, N. (2005). Blurring boundaries? Linking technology use, spillover, individual distress, and family satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1237-1248.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR5001, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 377 in January 2007. Published on EDIS August 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Donna Davis, senior producer, Family Album Radio, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.