Volume 5, Issue 2 (May 2018)                   Avicenna J Neuro Psycho Physiology 2018, 5(2): 99-106 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


1- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran.
2- Department of Cultural Psychopathology, Farabi Psychological Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran, Iran.
3- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
4- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bandar Gaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandaragaz, Iran.
Abstract:   (2338 Views)
Introduction: The extent of internet use broadly influences the different aspects of life. Also, the cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors affect the internet dependency.
Objectives: Severe internet dependency creates a disorder, therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between social support and internet addiction in nursing students, considering the mediating role of alexithymia.
Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive-correlational study based on structural equation modeling and specific regression equation. A total number of 361 nursing students (178 females and 183 males) were selected with the random sampling method, in Gorgan City, Iran, from October to November 2018. The participants filled the Zimet et al. (1988) social support scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Young (1996) internet addiction scale. Then, the collected data were analyzed with the regression structural equation modeling, in SPSS-18 and Amos-23 software programs.
Results: The regression equations showed a direct effect of social support on internet addiction and an indirect effect of social support on internet addiction with the mediation of alexithymia (P ˂ 0.01). Moreover, alexithymia positively affects internet addiction (P ˂ 0.01), and social support negatively affects alexithymia (P ˂ 0.01). 
Conclusion: The study model predicts 33% of internet addiction variance. This research highlights the important effect of social support on internet addiction, which is mediated by alexithymia, in students. These results provide advisers and trainers with applicable methods to improve the psychological states of students.
Full-Text [PDF 778 kb]   (1186 Downloads)    
Article Type: Research Article | Subject: General
Received: 2017/09/20 | Accepted: 2018/03/15 | Published: 2018/05/1

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.