School Students’ Smartphone Addiction in Predicting the Identity Function

This study aims to examine the mediating role of the level of alexithymia in the relationship between smartphone addiction and identity functions. The study group included 460 participants who were students attending Anatolian High Schools in four districts of Istanbul, and they were identified by a simple random sampling method. In this study, the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version, the Identity Function Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and a personal information form were used. The structural equation model (SEM) and bootstrapping were utilized to test the mediation analysis of the research. In the results of the analysis, it was found that smartphone addiction in high school students negatively predicted identity function ( β = − 0.37; p < .01), but positively predicted the alexithymia level ( β = 0.43; p < .01). In addition, it was found that the alexithymia level of high school students negatively predicted identity function ( β = − 0.43; p < .01). Finally, it was concluded that the alexithymia level in high school students mediates smartphone addiction to predict identity functions ( β = − 0.19; p < .01). The model fit values were also found to be within acceptable values ( χ 2 / df = 2.12, p < .0.1, RMSA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05, GFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93).