By Pooja Toshniwal PahariaMay 1 2024Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers examined the mediating function of web addiction in the association between alexithymia and depressive symptoms and the moderating influence of physical exercise.
The link between alexithymia and depressive symptoms exists in both clinical and non-clinical populations, and depression serves as a mediator between alexithymia and other risk behaviors. Alexithymia sufferers may demonstrate extreme internet addiction, which grows with age and grade. They used online addiction as a regulatory factor between depressive symptoms and alexithymia and exercise to regulate the association between web addiction and depressive symptoms, elucidating the underlying mechanisms linking alexithymia to depression.
The team performed correlation analysis and used descriptive statistics to characterize the participants' demographic characteristics and the primary interest variables, adjusting for age and sex. After adjusting for confounders and adding moderating factors, alexithymia continued to strongly and positively predict the extent of depression among undergraduates.
Internet addiction mediates this association since trouble detecting emotions contributes to disturbances in real-world relationships, prompting individuals to seek social fulfillment online.