Alexithymia in young adults

This research aims to investigate alexithymia in young adults. Within its scope, the relationship between alexithymia; internet use; perceived loneliness, self-esteem, empathy, and shyness; the anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic, and demographic variables were examined. The method of the research is the correlational survey model, using convenience sampling. In total, 289 young adults between the ages of 18-35 from Turkey completed the following questionnaires: Personal Information Form, Pandemic Anxiety Scale, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), after which Pearson correlation, independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA were employed to analyze the collected data. The study revealed a negative correlation between alexithymia and age, perceived empathy, and self-esteem; a positive correlation between alexithymia and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived shyness, and loneliness. Finally, the study also found that alexithymia is significantly associated with marital status and internet use; however, not with gender, educational level, working status, socioeconomic status, and the level of development of the place where the first ten years of their life is lived.