The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students

We aimed to assess whether Internet addiction (IA) severity was related to alexithymia scores among high school students, taking into account the role of gender differences and the possible effect of anxiety, depression, and age. Participants in the study were 600 students (ages ranging from 13 to 2...

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Main Authors: Giuseppe Scimeca, Antonio Bruno, Lucia Cava, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello, Rocco Zoccali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/504376
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author Giuseppe Scimeca
Antonio Bruno
Lucia Cava
Gianluca Pandolfo
Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello
Rocco Zoccali
author_facet Giuseppe Scimeca
Antonio Bruno
Lucia Cava
Gianluca Pandolfo
Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello
Rocco Zoccali
author_sort Giuseppe Scimeca
collection DOAJ
description We aimed to assess whether Internet addiction (IA) severity was related to alexithymia scores among high school students, taking into account the role of gender differences and the possible effect of anxiety, depression, and age. Participants in the study were 600 students (ages ranging from 13 to 22; 48.16% girls) recruited from three high schools in two cities from Southern Italy. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Internet Addiction Test, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and the Hamilton Depression Scale. The findings of the study showed that IA scores were associated with alexithymia scores, over and above the effect of negative emotions and age. Students with pathological levels of alexithymia reported higher scores on IA severity. In particular, results showed that difficulty in identifying feelings was significantly associated with higher scores on IA severity. No effect of gender was found. Implications for clinicians were discussed.
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spelling doaj-art-e5fe90714e3c48eebf5f960cb3f5c0dc2025-08-20T02:21:06ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/504376504376The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School StudentsGiuseppe Scimeca0Antonio Bruno1Lucia Cava2Gianluca Pandolfo3Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello4Rocco Zoccali5Department of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, 98125 Messina, ItalyWe aimed to assess whether Internet addiction (IA) severity was related to alexithymia scores among high school students, taking into account the role of gender differences and the possible effect of anxiety, depression, and age. Participants in the study were 600 students (ages ranging from 13 to 22; 48.16% girls) recruited from three high schools in two cities from Southern Italy. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Internet Addiction Test, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and the Hamilton Depression Scale. The findings of the study showed that IA scores were associated with alexithymia scores, over and above the effect of negative emotions and age. Students with pathological levels of alexithymia reported higher scores on IA severity. In particular, results showed that difficulty in identifying feelings was significantly associated with higher scores on IA severity. No effect of gender was found. Implications for clinicians were discussed.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/504376
spellingShingle Giuseppe Scimeca
Antonio Bruno
Lucia Cava
Gianluca Pandolfo
Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello
Rocco Zoccali
The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
The Scientific World Journal
title The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
title_full The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
title_fullStr The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
title_full_unstemmed The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
title_short The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students
title_sort relationship between alexithymia anxiety depression and internet addiction severity in a sample of italian high school students
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/504376
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