Investigating the relationship between brain-behavioral systems and alexithymia with students' internet addiction: the mediating role of creative thinking

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Payame noor University

10.22084/j.psychogy.2024.28936.2660

Abstract

Objective: Internet addiction as a diagnostic category in DSM-V has attracted the attention of researchers due to its negative consequences on the mental health of users. The purpose of this research is to investigate the mediating role of creative thinking in the relationship between brain-behavioral systems and alexithymia with internet addiction in students.

Method: The present research was conducted using the descriptive-correlation method of path analysis. The statistical population of this research included all girl students of the first year of high school in Ardabil city in 1401, from which 250 samples were selected by random cluster sampling. They responded to Toronto Bagby's alexithymia Questionnaire (1994), Carver White's Brain-Behavioral Systems Scale (1994), Young's Internet Addiction Questionnaire (1998) and Hani's Creative Thinking Questionnaire (2014). The direct relationships of the collected data were analyzed using SPSS23 and Amos24 software, and the indirect relationships were analyzed using bootstrap.

Results: The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the brain-behavioral activation system and alexithymia with internet addiction, and there is a negative and significant relationship between creative thinking and internet addiction. Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between the behavioral activation system and creative thinking, and a negative and significant relationship was seen between alexithymia and creative thinking. In addition, creative thinking plays a mediating role in the relationship between alexithymia and behavioral activation system with internet addiction (p< 0/05).

Conclusion: Mental health and education professionals can use these results to prevent internet addiction in students.

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