Relationship between Executive dysfunction and Internet addiction: Mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty

The purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty in the relationship between executive dysfunction and internet addiction. The research plan of this study was in a descriptive-correlation way, and of structural equations type. The statistical population of this study included Iranian adults, from whom, 400 individuals were selected by the available sampling method. Data were collected using the Young Internet Addiction Test a.k.a. (IAT), the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale, or (BDEFS), and the Gratz and Roemer Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, (DERS). Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation method and route analysis using SPSS and AMOS software. The results showed that the assumed model possessed an eligible fitting. In this model, executive dysfunction had a direct and significant relation with emotion regulation difficulty (P<0.01), executive dysfunction and emotion regulation difficulty had a direct and significant effect on internet addiction (P<0.01), and emotion regulation difficulty, also has a significant mediator role between executive dysfunction and internet addiction (p=0/001, β =0/217). Therefore, based on the results of the current study, it can be said that executive dysfunction predicts Internet addiction through emotion regulation difficulty.