How Does Psychological Distress Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Internet Addiction and Instagram Addiction in Emerging Adults?

Giulia Ballarotto,Silvia Cimino,Eleonora Marzilli,Luca Cerniglia,Renata Tambelli

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111382

Abstract

International research has underlined a worrying increase in Internet and Instagram addiction among emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the role played by alexithymia and psychological distress due to COVID-19 has been evidenced, no study has explored their complex relationship in predicting emerging adults’ Internet and Instagram addiction. The present study aimed to verify whether peritraumatic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic mediated the relationship between emerging adults’ alexithymia and their Internet/Instagram addiction, in a sample composed of n = 400 Italian emerging adults. Results showed that females had higher peritraumatic distress due to COVID-19 than males, whereas males had higher externally oriented thinking and higher levels of Internet addiction than females. Emerging adults’ psychological distress due to COVID-19 significantly mediated the effect of alexithymia on Internet and Instagram addiction. Our findings supported the presence of a dynamic relationship between individual vulnerabilities and the co-occurrence of other psychological difficulties in predicting emerging adults’ Internet and Instagram addiction during the pandemic, with important clinical implications.

Highlights

The preventive strategies planned to stem the spread of the virus that causes the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) [1,2] have resulted in several changes in many aspects of daily life, leading to a substantial increase in Internet use [3,4].the increased social isolation that everyone faced, and the uncertainty of the pandemic situation, led many people to use the Internet to receive information and keep in touch with peers [5,6]
This study evidenced the presence of a dynamic relationship between individual vulnerabilities and the co-occurrence of other psychological difficulties in predicting emerging adults’ Internet and Instagram addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic
Our findings showed that emerging adults’ levels of alexithymia significantly predicted the levels of Internet and Instagram addiction and that peritraumatic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic mediated this relationship. This result could allow the planning of prevention and intervention programs targeted at helping emerging adults with individual vulnerability to face the current health emergency and preventing peritraumatic distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Internet/Instagram addiction

Summary

Introduction

The preventive strategies planned to stem the spread of the virus that causes the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) (such as lock-down, home/institutional quarantines, limited mobility, social restrictions, and spatial distancing) [1,2] have resulted in several changes in many aspects of daily life, leading to a substantial increase in Internet use [3,4].the increased social isolation that everyone faced, and the uncertainty of the pandemic situation, led many people to use the Internet to receive information and keep in touch with peers [5,6]. The preventive strategies planned to stem the spread of the virus that causes the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) (such as lock-down, home/institutional quarantines, limited mobility, social restrictions, and spatial distancing) [1,2] have resulted in several changes in many aspects of daily life, leading to a substantial increase in Internet use [3,4]. Excessive Internet use could disrupt several aspects of life, such as sociality, study or work activities, and physical and psychological health [3]. Emerging adults could use the Internet to undertake the developmental tasks that facilitate a transition to adulthood

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