The Modeling of Internet Addiction Based on Identity Styles:The Mediating Role of Alexithymia

The study aimed to investigate the internet addiction model based on identity styles and mediating role of alexithymia in students. This research was a correlational research based on the structural equation modeling method. The statistical population of this study was all of secondary high school students in Sari. In this study, 361 people were selected by multistage sampling and responded to the Identity Style Scale (Berzonsky,1992), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, Taylor & Parker, 1994), and Internet Addiction Scale (Young,1998). The findings showed good model fit and 41% of Internet addiction variance were explained by identity styles and alexithymia. The results of this study highlights the importance of the role of identity as well as the mediating role of alexithymia on students' extreme internet tendencies and has implications for improving mental health.