IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i14p6431-d1200211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationships between Compulsive Internet Use, Alexithymia, and Dissociation: Gender Differences among Italian Adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Germani

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Antonella Lopez

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy
    Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari, 70122 Bari, Italy)

  • Elvira Martini

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Sara Cicchella

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Angelo Maria De Fortuna

    (Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies (DISCUI), University of Urbino, 61029 Urbino, Italy)

  • Mirella Dragone

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Barbara Pizzini

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Gina Troisi

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

  • Raffaele De Luca Picione

    (Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, 82100 Benevento, Italy)

Abstract

Internet Gaming Disorder, Internet Addiction, Problematic Internet Use and Compulsive Internet Use cause distress and significant impairment in important areas of a person’s functioning, in particular among young people. The literature has indicated that males show higher levels of problematic internet use than females. People can use the internet to avoid or alleviate negative affects; in fact, problematic internet use is associated with alexithymia and dissociation. Few studies have focused on the different stages of adolescence, gender differences, and the relationships between the aforementioned variables. This research aims to fill this gap. Five hundred and ninety-four adolescents aged between 13 and 19 filled in the Compulsive Internet Use Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Adolescents Dissociative Experiences Scale, and other ad hoc measures. Surprisingly, females reported higher compulsive internet use compared with males. Moreover, they referred more difficulties/symptoms and greater levels of alexithymia than males. No differences across the stages of adolescence were found. Different strengths in the relationships between variables were found according to gender. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that dissociation is an important mediator in the relation between alexithymia and Compulsive Internet Use only among females. This study shed new light on gender differences around problematic internet use and some related risk factors, in order to identify and develop prevention and treatment programs to face this topical and relevant issue.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Germani & Antonella Lopez & Elvira Martini & Sara Cicchella & Angelo Maria De Fortuna & Mirella Dragone & Barbara Pizzini & Gina Troisi & Raffaele De Luca Picione, 2023. "The Relationships between Compulsive Internet Use, Alexithymia, and Dissociation: Gender Differences among Italian Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6431-:d:1200211
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6431/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6431/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eleonora Topino & Alessio Gori & Marco Cacioppo, 2021. "Alexithymia, Dissociation, and Family Functioning in a Sample of Online Gamblers: A Moderated Mediation Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cinzia Guarnaccia & Abdul Rahman Rasho & Benoit Testé & Sylvain Delouvée, 2024. "Beyond the Screen: A Comprehensive Analysis of Emotional Skills and Social Networking in French Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Monique West & Simon Rice & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2024. "Adolescent Social Media Use through a Self-Determination Theory Lens: A Systematic Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-35, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eleonora Topino & Marco Cacioppo & Alessio Gori, 2022. "The Relationship between Attachment Styles and Compulsive Online Shopping: The Mediating Roles of Family Functioning Patterns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6431-:d:1200211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.