An investigation on Negative Activity, Alexithymia, Emotion Regulation, and Internet addiction in a sample of high school students: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

This research was conducted on students that studying in high schools in Sanandaj city, Kurdistan Province, Iran. In total, 743 students were selected from all of the interested students, and then participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Negative Activities test (DASS-21), Emotion Regulation test (ER), and Farsi Toronto Alexithymia test (FTAS-20). In total, 287 students marked as moderate and severe addicted users. Among all 287 students, 243 students agreed to attend the rest of the tests (Main group). Also, 137 students are selected as control group. The study shows that IA score is associated with NA, ER, and alexithymia scores. Students with high scores in IA showed higher scores on the other test. Although we could not find any correlation between some subscales, still the research indicates that most addicted users are involved with the other psychological impairments. Clinical results were discussed.