Year: 2025
Type: review
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: This meta-analysis explores the relationship that exists between Internet addiction and alexithymia. For this purpose, three databases, namely Scopus, PubMed and ScienceDirect, used the search term “Internet addiction and alexithymia” to find 279 records covering 21 studies. The data were analyzed with Jamovi (2.6.13 version) and R with Metafor package (version 4.6-0). The results showed a consistent relationship between Internet addiction and alexithymia (r=0.37, CI 0.32-0.42). Although significant heterogeneity was observed (I²=86.5%), meta-regression analysis revealed that age significantly moderates the relationship (p=0.045), with a stronger correlation for younger individuals. The prevalence of Internet addiction (mean=33.38, CI 24.39–42.38) and alexithymia (mean=50.88, CI 41.75–60.01) were observed to be moderate. Publication bias assessments, including fail-safe N (13189, p<0.001) and Egger regression (p=0.748) confirmed robustness.
Authors: Krishna Kanta Mondal, Manichander T., Rajinder Singh, Sridevi M.
Institutions: Assam University, Central University of Himachal Pradesh
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413862855