title: Alexithymia and its relationships with dissociative experiences and Internet addiction in a nonclinical sample.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate alexithymia, dissociative experiences, and Internet addiction (IA) in a nonclinical sample of 312 undergraduate students, identifying predictive factors associated with the possible risk of developing IA. We found that alexithymics had more consistent dissociative experiences, lower self-esteem, and higher obsessive-compulsive symptoms than nonalexithymics. In addition, alexithymics reported a higher potential risk for IA when compared to nonalexithymics. Difficulty in identifying feelings, higher dissociative experiences, lower self-esteem, and higher impulse dysregulation were associated with higher IA. Thus, a combination of alexithymia, dissociative experiences, low self-esteem, and impulse dysregulation may be a risk factor for IA, at least in a nonclinical sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology and Neurosciences, Institute of Psychiatry, University G. d'Annunzio of Chieti, Italy. dodebera@aliceposta.it
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Berardis
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Albenzio
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gambi
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sepede
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valchera
authors.forename: Chiara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fulcheri
authors.forename: Marilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavuto
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ortolani
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Serroni
authors.forename: Filippo Maria
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ferro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult