Investigation of the relationship between internet addiction and emotion regulation difficulties in young adults

There is a positive relationship between internet addiction scores and the severity of emotion regulation difficulties. As internet addiction scores increase, the severity of emotion regulation difficulties will increase. The process of exceeding the limits regarding the use of the Internet, which results in the impairment of the functionality of individuals in their personal, professional and social lives, is defined as internet addiction. This study aimed to examine the relationship between internet addiction and emotion regulation difficulties. For this purpose, "Personal Data Form", "Young Internet Addiction Test" to measure internet addiction levels, and "Emotion Regulation Difficulties Scale" to measure emotion regulation difficulties were applied to 364 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30, and the correlation relationship between them was examined. According to the Pearson correlation analysis results, it was concluded that there was a significant positive relationship between internet addiction scores and the severity of emotion regulation difficulties. It was concluded that internet addiction scores differ significantly according to gender, they are higher in men than women, but emotion regulation difficulty scores do not differ statistically according to gender. It was concluded that the internet addiction scores of married individuals are lower than single individuals. It was found that the emotion regulation difficulty scores of individuals who received psychological support for any reason were higher than those who did not receive psychological support. It was found that internet addiction scores differed statistically significantly according to psychiatric disease status, and the internet addiction scores of individuals diagnosed with a psychiatric disease were higher than the internet addiction scores of individuals who were not diagnosed with any psychiatric disease. Internet addiction scores and emotion regulation difficulty levels increase as the daily time spent on the Internet increases. As a result, there is a positive relationship between internet addiction scores and the severity of emotion regulation difficulties. As internet addiction scores increase, the severity of emotion regulation difficulties increase. Studies aimed at increasing individuals' emotional regulation difficulty in preventing internet addiction are important. There is a need for studies with larger samples on this subject. Keywords: Young Adult, Internet Addiction, Difficulty in Emotion Regulation