The Association between Moral Intelligence and Communication Skills with Internet Addiction: The Mediating Role of Psychological Distress in Secondary School Students of Tabriz, Iran.

Introduction: Internet addiction is a growing phenomenon that has harmful psychological-behavioral effects on users. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between moral intelligence and communication skill s with the mediation of psychological distress in secondary school students of Tabriz city.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional correlational study, 431 adolescents (female=227, male=204) in Tabriz, Iran schools were selected using cluster sampling and responded to psychological distress questionnaires DASS21, Internet addiction KDAI, communication skill s of Queen dam and moral intelligence of Lenik Vakil. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. SPSS 26 and LISREL 8.80 statistical software were used to classify, process and analyze data and test research hypotheses.

Results: The fit indices of the proposed model show its optimal fit (χ²/df=2.93, CFI=0.97, GFI=0.91, AGFI=0.88, RMSEA=0.06, RMR=0.03). The results showed that moral intelligence (β=-0.167, P<0.001) and communication skill s (β=-0.525, P<0.001) have a significant indirect relationship with Internet addiction.

Conclusion: The present study showed that healthcare organizations should take preventive interventions more seriously to reduce the possibility of Internet addiction and pay attention to the issue of increasing the level of moral intelligence and communication skill s with regard to the mediating role of psychological distress in order to reduce psychological distress. We can reduce the increasing prevalence of internet addiction.