Binge eating, social media disorder and attachment in adolescence: Gender differences in the mediating role of alexithymia

Introduction

There is a need for research investigating factors accounting for binge eating (BE) and social media disorder (SMD) in adolescence.

Objective

Despite studies suggesting the role of both attachment and alexithymia in these disorders, there has been no investigation into the mediating role of alexithymia in the pathways linking the different types of attachment relationships to both BE and SMD.

Methods

A total of 423 Italian adolescents (32.2% males, M_age = 16.88) completed self-report questionnaires investigating attachment, alexithymia, binge eating, and social media disorder levels. Hypotheses were tested with Structural Equation Modelling including multigroup analyses.

Results

Almost all the variables showed relationships with each other. BE was explained by attachment to the mother and peers in both genders, but the mediating effect of alexithymia was significant only among girls. SMD was explained only by attachment to peers among boys but by attachment to the parents among girls. Moreover, among girls, the role of attachment to the father in SMD was fully mediated by alexithymia levels.

Conclusions

Attachment and alexithymia are two explaining variables associated with BE and SMD in adolescence. However, differentiating between attachment relationships appears crucial to reaching a nuanced understanding of the dynamics underlying both BE and SMD.