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) andsocial 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 thedifferent types of attachment relationships to both BE and SMD.Methods. – A total of 423 Italian adolescents (32.2% males, Mage= 16.88) completed self-report question-naires investigating attachment, alexithymia, binge eating, and social media disorder levels. Hypotheseswere tested with Structural Equation Modelling including multigroup analyses.Results. – Almost all the variables showed relationships with each other. BE was explained by attachmentto the mother and peers in both genders, but the mediating effect of alexithymia was significant onlyamong girls. SMD was explained only by attachment to peers among boys but by attachment to the parentsamong girls. Moreover, among girls, the role of attachment to the father in SMD was fully mediated byalexithymia levels.Conclusions. – Attachment and alexithymia are two explaining variables associated with BE and SMD inadolescence. However, differentiating between attachment relationships appears crucial to reaching anuanced understanding of the dynamics underlying both BE and SMD