Socioemotional Adjustment and Identity Styles in Adolescents with Internet Addiction: The Mediating Role of Coping Strategies

Aims: Access to the Internet is a growing phenomenon and every day more adolescents are becoming Internet users. As a result, the number of male adolescents with Internet addiction problem is increasing. Regarding this issue, the present study was conducted with the aim of the investigating of mediating role of coping strategies in the relationships of identity styles and social and emotional adjustment with Internet addiction in male adolescent students in Isfahan City. Materials Methods: The study design was correlation. The statistical population of this study was all male adolescent students of Isfahan City that among them 250 were selected by convenience sampling. Measurement tools included the questionnaires of coping strategies, identity styles, social adaptation, and Internet addiction. Findings: The results of hypothesis testing through modelingpath analysis showed that the conceptual model of the study had a good fitting. Therefore, the informational identity style had a direct negative and significant effect on Internet addiction. In addition, the avoid confusion identity style had a direct positive and significant effect on Internet addiction and the social and emotional adaptation had a direct negative and significant effect on it. The informational identity style and social and emotional adaptation had an indirect negative and significant effect on Internet addiction by mediating the variable of emotional coping strategies. Conclusion: Identity styles and social and emotional adaptation were identified as the most important predictor of Internet addiction among adolescent students by mediation the variable of coping strategies.