Problematic internet use and alexithymia: a meta-analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17162/au.v12i4.1240Keywords:
Keywords: Internet, addiction, alexithymia, emotions, psychology.Abstract
The current meta-analysis examined the relationship between problematic internet use and alexithymia, that is the inability to recognize emotions. A bibliographic search was carried out using the Scopus, PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science and ProQuest databases, recovering a total of 26 independent effect sizes from 25 papers that met the inclusion criteria. The total sample was composed of 13,313 subjects. The results revealed an association between problematic internet use and alexithymia (r = .25), hence those subjects who show higher scores of alexithymia also have higher levels of problematic internet use. The presence of publication bias is not appreciated. Implications and limitations of the work are discussed. The need to continue investigating the relationship between the two variables is pointed out, especially through longitudinal studies and in varied age groups.Downloads
References
Alimoradi, Z., Lin, C. Y., Broström, A., Bülow, P. H., Bajalan, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Ohayon, M. M., & Pakpour, A. H. (2019). Internet addiction and sleep problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 47, 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2019.06.004
Alpaslan, A. H., Avci, K., Soylu, N., & Guzel, H. I. (2015). The association between problematic internet use, suicide probability, alexithymia and loneliness among Turkish medical students. Journal of Psychiatry, 18 (1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.4172/1994-8220.1000208
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. American Psychiatric Publishing.
Arrivillaga, C., Rey, L., & Extremera, N. (2020). Adolescents’ problematic internet and smartphone use is related to suicide ideation: Does emotional intelligence make a difference? Computers in Human Behavior, 110, 106375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106375
Aznar-Díaz, I., Romero-Rodríguez, J. M., García-González, A., & Ramírez-Montoya, M. S. (2020). Mexican and Spanish university students’ Internet addiction and academic procrastination: Correlation and potential factors. PLoS ONE, 15 (5), e0233655. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233655
Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale—I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1
Bolat, N., Yavuz, M., Eliaçık, K., & Zorlu, A. (2018). The relationships between problematic internet use, alexithymia levels and attachment characteristics in a sample of adolescents in a high school, Turkey. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 23(5), 604-611. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2017.1394474
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P., & Rothstein, H. R. (2021). Introduction to meta-analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
Botella, J. & Sánchez-Meca, J. (2015). Meta-Análisis en Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Editorial Síntesis.
Brand, M., Young, K. S., Laier, C., Wölfling, K., & Potenza, M. N. (2016). Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: An Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 71, 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.08.033
Buyukbayraktar, C. G. (2020). Predictive Relationships Between Social Anxiety, Internet Addiction and Alexithymia in Adolescents. Journal of Education and Learning, 9 (2), 222-231. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v9n2p222
Caplan, S. E. (2010). Theory and measurement of generalized problematic Internet use: A two-step approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 26 (5), 1089-1097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.012
Craparo, G. (2011). Internet addiction, dissociation, and alexithymia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1051-1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.205
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dalbudak, E., Evren, C., Aldemir, S., Coskun, K. S., Ugurlu, H., & Yildirim, F. G. (2013). Relationship of internet addiction severity with depression, anxiety, and alexithymia, temperament and character in university students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16 (4), 272-278. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0390
Davis, R. A. (2001). A cognitive-behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17 (2), 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(00)00041-8
De Berardis, D., D'Albenzio, A., Gambi, F., Sepede, G., Valchera, A., Conti, C. M., Fulcheri, M., Cavuto, M., Ortolani, C., Salerno, R. M. Serroni, N. & Ferro, F. M. (2009). Alexithymia and its relationships with dissociative experiences and Internet addiction in a nonclinical sample. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12 (1), 67-69. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2008.0108
Elkholy, H., Elhabiby, M., & Ibrahim, I. (2020). Rates of alexithymia and its association with smartphone addiction among a sample of university students in Egypt. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 304. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00304
Ercengiz, M. (2020). The Relationship Between Alexithymia and Internet Addiction in Adolescents. Journal of History School, 44, 322-332. https://doi.org/10.29228/joh.40424
Gao, T., Li, J., Zhang, H., Gao, J., Kong, Y., Hu, Y., & Mei, S. (2018). The influence of alexithymia on mobile phone addiction: The role of depression, anxiety and stress. Journal of Affective Disorders, 225, 761-766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.020
Ghalehban, M., & Besharat, M. A. (2011). Examination and comparison of alexithymia and self-regulation in patients with substance abuse disorder and normal individuals. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 38-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.008
Geisel, O., Panneck, P., Stickel, A., Schneider, M., & Müller, C. A. (2015). Characteristics of social network gamers: results of an online survey. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 6, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00069
Ghanadzadegan, H. A., Sangani, A., Jangi, P., & Homayouni, A. (2018). The Relationship Between Social Support and Internet Addiction in Nursing Students: The Mediating Role of Alexithymia. Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology, 5 (2), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.32598/ajnpp.5.1.120
Hamilton, W. K. (2018). MAJOR: Meta Analysis JamOvi R. For the Jamovi project.
Hao, Z., Jin, L., Li, Y., Akram, H. R., Saeed, M. F., Ma, J., Ma, H., & Huang, J. (2019). Alexithymia and mobile phone addiction in Chinese undergraduate students: The roles of mobile phone use patterns. Computers in Human Behavior, 97, 51-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.001
Hayat, A. A., Kojuri, J., & Amini, M. (2020). Academic procrastination of medical students: The role of Internet addiction. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 8 (2), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.5812/semj.96049
Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (2014). Statistical methods for meta-analysis. New York: Academic Press.
Hemming, L., Haddock, G., Shaw, J., & Pratt, D. (2019). Alexithymia and its associations with depression, suicidality, and aggression: an overview of the literature. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00203
Hodzic, S., Scharfen, J., Ripoll, P., Holling, H., & Zenasni, F. (2018). How efficient are emotional intelligence trainings: A meta-analysis. Emotion Review, 10 (2), 138–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917708613
Huedo-Medina, T. B., Sánchez-Meca, J., Marín-Martínez, F., & Botella, J. (2006). Assessing heterogeneity in meta-analysis: Q statistic or I² index?. Psychological Methods, 11 (2), 193-206. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989x.11.2.193
Johnson, J. (2021). Global digital population as of January 2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/
Kandri, T. A., Bonotis, K. S., Floros, G. D., & Zafiropoulou, M. M. (2014). Alexithymia components in excessive internet users: A multi-factorial analysis. Psychiatry Research, 220 (1-2), 348-355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.07.066
Karaer, Y., & Akdemir, D. (2019). Parenting styles, perceived social support and emotion regulation in adolescents with internet addiction. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 92, 22-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.03.003
Khodami, M. A., & Sheibani, L. (2020). An investigation on Negative Activity, Alexithymia, Emotion Regulation, and Internet addiction in a sample of high school students: A randomized controlled trial. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, Revue Psychiatrique, 178 (6), 624–631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2019.10.007
Levant, R. F., Hall, R. J., Williams, C. M., & Hasan, N. T. (2009). Gender differences in alexithymia. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 10 (3), 190-203. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015652.
Li, G., Hou, G., Yang, D., Jian, H., & Wang, W. (2019). Relationship between anxiety, depression, sex, obesity, and internet addiction in Chinese adolescents: A short-term longitudinal study. Addictive Behaviors, 90, 421-427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.12.009
Lin, M. P. (2020). Prevalence of internet addiction during the COVID-19 outbreak and its risk factors among junior high school students in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (22), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228547
Lin, M. P., Wu, J. Y. W., You, J., Hu, W. H., & Yen, C. F. (2018). Prevalence of internet addiction and its risk and protective factors in a representative sample of senior high school students in Taiwan. Journal of Adolescence, 62, 38-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.11.004
Lipsey, M. W., & Wilson, D. B. (2001). Practical meta-analysis. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Lyvers, M., Karantonis, J., Edwards, M. S., & Thorberg, F. A. (2016). Traits associated with internet addiction in young adults: Potential risk factors. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 3, 56-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2016.04.001
Lyvers, M., Senturk, C., & Thorberg, F. A. (2021). Alexithymia, impulsivity and negative mood in relation to internet addiction symptoms in female university students. Australian Journal of Psychology, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1942985
Maganuco, N. R., Costanzo, A., Midolo, L. R., Santoro, G., & Schimmenti, A. (2019). Impulsivity and alexithymia in virtual worlds: A study on players of World of Warcraft. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 16 (3), 127–134.
Mahapatra, A., & Sharma, P. (2018). Association of Internet addiction and alexithymia–A scoping review. Addictive Behaviors, 81, 175-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.02.004
Mattingly, V., & Kraiger, K. (2019). Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical investigation. Human Resource Management Review, 29 (2), 140-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.03.002
Morie, K. P., Yip, S. W., Nich, C., Hunkele, K., Carroll, K. M., & Potenza, M. N. (2016). Alexithymia and addiction: a review and preliminary data suggesting neurobiological links to reward/loss processing. Current Addiction Reports, 3 (2), 239-248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0097-8
Nekouei, Z. K., Doost, H. T. N., Yousefy, A., Manshaee, G., & Sadeghei, M. (2014). The relationship of Alexithymia with anxiety-depression-stress, quality of life, and social support in Coronary Heart Disease (A psychological model). Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 3, 68. https://doi.org/10.4103/2277-9531.134816
Obeid, S., Haddad, C., Fares, K., Malaeb, D., Sacre, H., Akel, M., Salameh, P., & Hallit, S. (2021). Correlates of emotional intelligence among Lebanese adults: the role of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, alcohol use disorder, alexithymia and work fatigue. BMC Psychology, 9 (1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00525-6
Obeid, S., Lahoud, N., Haddad, C., Sacre, H., Fares, K., Akel, M., Salameh, P., & Hallit, S. (2020). Factors associated with anxiety among the Lebanese population: the role of alexithymia, self-esteem, alcohol use disorders, emotional intelligence and stress and burnout. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 24 (2), 151-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2020.1723641
Pan, Y. C., Chiu, Y. C., & Lin, Y. H. (2020). Systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiology of internet addiction. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 118, 612-622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.08.013
Parker, J. D., Taylor, G. J., & Bagby, R. M. (2001). The relationship between emotional intelligence and alexithymia. Personality and Individual Differences, 30 (1), 107-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(00)00014-3
Pino, M. J., Herruzo, C., Lucena, V., & Herruzo, J. (2021). Uso problemático de Internet y problemas psicológicos entre estudiantes universitarios con discapacidad. Adicciones. https://doi.org/10.20882/adicciones.1574
Pontes, H. M., Griffiths, M. D., & Patrão, I. M. (2014). Internet addiction and loneliness among children and adolescents in the education setting: an empirical pilot study. Aloma: Revista de Psicologia, Ciències de l'Educació i de l'Esport, 32 (1), 91-98.
Preece, D., Becerra, R., Allan, A., Robinson, K., & Dandy, J. (2017). Establishing the theoretical components of alexithymia via factor analysis: Introduction and validation of the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia. Personality and Individual Differences, 119, 341-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.08.003
Remondi, C., Compare, A., Tasca, G. A., Greco, A., Pievani, L., Poletti, B., & Brugnera, A. (2020). Insecure attachment and technology addiction among young adults: the mediating role of impulsivity, alexithymia, and general psychological distress. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23 (11), 761-767. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0747
Saikia, A. M., Das, J., Barman, P., & Bharali, M. D. (2019). Internet addiction and its relationships with depression, anxiety, and stress in urban adolescents of Kamrup District, Assam. Journal of Family & Community Medicine, 26 (2), 108-112. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_93_18
Schmidt, F. L., Oh, I. S., & Hayes, T. L. (2009). Fixed‐versus random‐effects models in meta‐analysis: Model properties and an empirical comparison of differences in results. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 62 (1), 97-128. https://doi.org/10.1348/000711007x255327
Schimmenti, A., Passanisi, A., Caretti, V., La Marca, L., Granieri, A., Iacolino, C., Gervasi, A. M., Maganuco, N. R., & Billieux, J. (2017). Traumatic experiences, alexithymia, and Internet addiction symptoms among late adolescents: A moderated mediation analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 64, 314-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.11.002
Scimeca, G., Bruno, A., Cava, L., Pandolfo, G., Muscatello, M. R., & Zoccali, R., (2014). The Relationship Between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in A Sample of Italian High School Students. The Scientific World Journal, 2014, 504376. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/504376
Scimeca, G., Bruno, A., Crucitti, M., Conti, C., Quattrone, D., Pandolfo, G., Zoccali, R. A., & Muscatello, M. R. A. (2016). Abnormal illness behavior and Internet addiction severity: The role of disease conviction, irritability, and alexithymia. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6 (1), 92-97. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.008
Sechi, C., Loi, G., & Cabras, C. (2021). Addictive internet behaviors: The role of trait emotional intelligence, self‐esteem, age, and gender. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (3), 409-417. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12698
Servidio, R., Bartolo, M. G., Palermiti, A. L., & Costabile, A. (2021). Fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, and their association with Internet addiction disorder in a sample of Italian students. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 4, 100097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100097
Sharma, A., & Sharma, R. (2018). Internet addiction and psychological well-being among college students: A cross-sectional study from Central India. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 7 (1), 147-151. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_189_17
Sifneos, P. E. (1973). The prevalence of ‘alexithymic’characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 22 (2-6), 255-262. https://doi.org/10.1159/000286529
Solati, K., Ghasemi, M., & Mohammadi, D. (2018). The Relationship of Internet Addiction with Quality of Life and Alexithymia in Students in Iran. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 12 (12), 6-9. https://doi.org/10.7860/jcdr/2018/37683.12323
Soranidou, P., & Papastylianou, A. D. (2018). Relationship of Internet Addiction with Alexithymia and Childhood’s Perceived Parenting in University Students. Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 23 (2), 7-19. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.22573
Su, W., Han, X., Jin, C., Yan, Y., & Potenza, M. N. (2019). Are males more likely to be addicted to the internet than females? A meta-analysis involving 34 global jurisdictions. Computers in Human Behavior, 99, 86-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.021
Suurmond, R., van Rhee, H., & Hak, T. (2017). Introduction, comparison, and validation of Meta‐Essentials: a free and simple tool for meta‐analysis. Research synthesis methods, 8 (4), 537-553. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1260
Taylor, G. J., Bagby, R. M., & Parker, J. D. (1991). The alexithymia construct: a potential paradigm for psychosomatic medicine. Psychosomatics, 32 (2), 153-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0033-3182(91)72086-0
Thorberg, F. A., Young, R. M., Hasking, P., Lyvers, M., Connor, J. P., London, E. D., Huang, Y. L. & Feeney, G. F. (2019). Alexithymia and alcohol dependence: The roles of negative mood and alcohol craving. Substance Use & Misuse, 54 (14), 2380-2386. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2019.1650773
Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36 (3), 1-48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v036.i03
Wachs, S., Vazsonyi, A. T., Wright, M. F., & Jiskrova, G. K. (2020). Cross-national associations among cyberbullying victimization, self-esteem, and Internet addiction: Direct and indirect effects of alexithymia. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1368. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01368
World Health Organization. (2015). Public Health Implications of Excessive Use of the Internet, Computers, Smartphones and Similar Electronic Devices: Meeting Report. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/184264
World Health Organization. (2018). International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11). https:// icd.who.int/
Yates, T. M., Gregor, M. A., & Haviland, M. G. (2012). Child maltreatment, alexithymia, and problematic internet use in young adulthood. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15 (4), 219-225. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0427
Young, K. S. (1998). Caught in the net. New York: Wiley.
Young, K. S., & De Abreu, C. N. (2010). Internet addiction: A handbook and guide to evaluation and treatment. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Yu, L., & Shek, D. T. L. (2018). Testing longitudinal relationships between Internet addiction and well-being in Hong Kong adolescents: cross-lagged analyses based on three waves of data. Child Indicators Research, 11 (5), 1545-1562. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-017-9494-3
Zhang, S., Tian, Y., Sui, Y., Zhang, D., Shi, J., Wang, P., Meng, W. & Si, Y. (2018). Relationships between social support, loneliness, and internet addiction in Chinese postsecondary students: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1707. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01707
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Sergio Hidalgo Fuentes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- The authors retain their copyright but assign to the journal the right of the first publication, with the work registered under the Creative Commons attribution license, which allows third parties to use the published information as long as they mention the authorship of the work and that it was first published in this journal.
- Authors may make other independent or additional contractual arrangements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this journal (eg, include it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book) as long as it clearly indicates that the work was first published in this journal.
- Authors are encouraged and advised to publish their work on the Internet (for example, on institutional or personal pages) before and during the review and publication process, as it can lead to productive exchanges and a greater and faster dissemination of the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
