To examine the relationship between alexithymia and digital problem behaviour, a systematic review was conducted. Problematic internet use, problematic use of social media and problematic gaming...Show moreTo examine the relationship between alexithymia and digital problem behaviour, a systematic review was conducted. Problematic internet use, problematic use of social media and problematic gaming behaviour are included as types of digital problem behaviour. The main research question is: How is alexithymia related to problematic use of internet, social media and videogames? To examine the relationship, a systematic research was conducted. After having executed the research 266 articles were selected. However, after excluding all of the identical articles only 167 were left. Out of the 167 studied, 23 studies were included. Studies were excluded if they were not labelled as empirical, written in another language than English or Dutch; and lastly, if they had a clinical sample besides alexithymia. The selected studies were double coded on the methodological features: chosen study design, sample size, and used research instruments. Combining all 23 studies a total of 41.274 participants was established. The median of all these studies was 429 participants. From the 23 studies, 14 were about problematic internet use, 3 about problematic use of social media and 6 about problematic gaming behaviour. 20 of the 23 studies found a positive significant relationship between alexithymia and problematic internet use, problematic use of social media and problematic gaming behaviour. However, the reliability of the results is questionable. Due to the fact that the cross-sectional design and sample size of all studies do not allow to draw strong conclusions. Furthermore, the use of only self-report does not contribute to the quality of the studies. Follow-up research of better quality will be necessary to draw valid conclusions about the relationship between alexithymia and digital problem behaviour.Show less
