Prevalence of Alexithymia and Internet Addiction Among Students and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies

To examine the prevalence of alexithymia and internet addiction in secondary and higher education students, the relationship between alexithymia and internet addiction, and the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The meta-analysis included 17 studies and the total sample size of the studies was 11 603. In the meta-analysis, the estimated internet addiction rate was 15.2% (95% CI: 0.105–0.215) and alexithymia rate was 23.6% (95% CI: 0.181–0.301). It was determined that internet addiction (15.4% vs. 16.3%) and alexithymia (18.4% vs. 28.3%) rates increased during the pandemic; however, the pandemic was not a moderating variable. In addition, this study found that there was a positive relationship between internet addiction and alexithymia and that both conditions are affected by many individual, psychosocial and economic factors. This review revealed that internet addiction and alexithymia are common in high school and university students, that there is a positive relationship between them.