Effect of Alexithymia on Internet Addiction Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Metacognition Beliefs

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have found that alexithymia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Internet addiction. However, the effect of alexithymia on both metacognition and Internet addiction has yet to be examined.Methods: The Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Metacognition Questionnaire, and Internet Addiction Test were used to assess a sample of 356 college students. A parallel mediator effect analysis was applied to test the hypothesis that metacognition mediates the relationship between alexithymia and Internet addiction.Results: The parallel multiple mediator models showed that alexithymia predicted the five dimensions of metacognition and Internet addiction, and that three dimensions—cognitive confidence, positive beliefs about worry, and the need to control thoughts—partially mediated this relationship.Conclusion: Alexithymia could directly and indirectly predict Internet addiction via metacognition.

Exploring the links between alexithymia and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in internet addiction: A network analysis model

“…Alexithymia predisposes individuals to a variety of physiological and psychiatric disorders ( Bagby and Taylor, 2009 ; Luo et al, 2021 ). Alexithymia may also be important in pathogenesis of substance use disorders, behavioral addiction ( Bonnaire et al, 2013 ; Morie et al, 2016 ), and internet addiction ( El-Rasheed et al, 2017 ; Luo et al, 2022 ). Previous studies have found a significant positive relation between internet addiction and alexithymia among high school students ( Scimeca et al, 2014 ; di Nicola et al, 2017 ; Bolat et al, 2018 ; Karaer and Akdemir, 2019 ; Lin, 2020 ), college students ( Dalbudak et al, 2013 ; Kandri et al, 2014 ), and adults ( Bipeta et al, 2015 ; Scimeca et al, 2017 ).…”

The mediating effect of internet addiction and the moderating effect of physical activity on the relationship between alexithymia and depression

“…Based on detection rates of internet addiction among young people in China, it has been found that internet addiction gradually increases with age and grade, reaching 7.7% among high school students 31 , and even exceeding half among college students 32 . Research has found a significant positive correlation between alexithymia and internet addiction in college students 33 , 34 , and alexithymia significantly predicts internet addiction in college students 35 – 37 . This predictive effect also exists in studies focusing on a single gender 38 .…”

Role of Alexithymia in Predicting Internet Novel Addiction through Boredom Proneness

“…There was also a positive correlation between alexithymia and smartphone addiction [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Furthermore, interpersonal relationships have been shown to have an impact on partner relationships [ 16 ]—alexithymia has been shown to predict symptoms of internet addiction [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”