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Brain anatomy alterations and mental health challenges correlate to email addiction tendency

Brain anatomy alterations and mental health challenges correlate to email addiction tendency
Brain anatomy alterations and mental health challenges correlate to email addiction tendency
Despite the widespread use of email, our knowledge regarding the consequences of email addiction is lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop an email addiction tendency scale to evaluate its correlation to behavior and brain structure. Following this, the validity and reliability of the developed scale was investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry, correlation, and univariate regression analysis to assess the relationships between email addiction tendency scores and regional gray and white matter volumes, depression, and nonverbal reasoning abilities in a large sample of healthy young adults (n = 1152; mean age, 20.69 ± 1.84 years). The content validity ratio, content validity index, principal component analysis, and confirmatory factorial analysis all showed that the email addiction tendency scale (EATS) has high validity. Additionally, the Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency and split-half reliability coefficient showed that the EATS has high reliability. We found that email addiction tendency scores were significantly negatively correlated with nonverbal reasoning. We also observed that the email addiction tendency scores were significantly and positively correlated with depression symptom severity and gray matter volume of the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPC) in subjects. These results indicate that email addiction tendency is associated with lower mental health outcomes and increased GMV in the left RLPC.
2076-3425
Sadeghi, Saeid
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Takeuchi, Hikaru
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Shalani, Bita
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Taki, Yasuyuki
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Nouchi, Rui
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Yokoyama, Ryoichi
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Kotozaki, Yuka
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Nakagawa, Seishu
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Sekiguchi, Atsushi
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Iizuka, Kunio
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Hanawa, Sugiko
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Araki, Tsuyoshi
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Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto
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Sakaki, Kohei
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Nozawa, Takayuki
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Ikeda, Shigeyuki
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Yokota, Susumu
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Magistro, Daniele
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Sassa, Yuko
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Kawashima, Ryuta
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Sadeghi, Saeid
2c46275e-ff7b-442f-b35a-ef237b5e39d4
Takeuchi, Hikaru
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Shalani, Bita
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Taki, Yasuyuki
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Nouchi, Rui
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Yokoyama, Ryoichi
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Kotozaki, Yuka
4563f858-11e2-4c62-a8d6-2300bc8d7539
Nakagawa, Seishu
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Sekiguchi, Atsushi
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Iizuka, Kunio
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Hanawa, Sugiko
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Araki, Tsuyoshi
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Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto
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Sakaki, Kohei
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Nozawa, Takayuki
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Ikeda, Shigeyuki
1ca757b3-430b-45a7-8b55-b2d64830535d
Yokota, Susumu
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Magistro, Daniele
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Sassa, Yuko
1cd3a5a4-7ebb-4bfd-a0cf-40b470114ca4
Kawashima, Ryuta
696ba780-ca26-4227-af1d-3ae821a12d00

Sadeghi, Saeid, Takeuchi, Hikaru, Shalani, Bita, Taki, Yasuyuki, Nouchi, Rui, Yokoyama, Ryoichi, Kotozaki, Yuka, Nakagawa, Seishu, Sekiguchi, Atsushi, Iizuka, Kunio, Hanawa, Sugiko, Araki, Tsuyoshi, Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto, Sakaki, Kohei, Nozawa, Takayuki, Ikeda, Shigeyuki, Yokota, Susumu, Magistro, Daniele, Sassa, Yuko and Kawashima, Ryuta (2022) Brain anatomy alterations and mental health challenges correlate to email addiction tendency. Brain Sciences, 12 (10), [1278]. (doi:10.3390/brainsci12101278).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of email, our knowledge regarding the consequences of email addiction is lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop an email addiction tendency scale to evaluate its correlation to behavior and brain structure. Following this, the validity and reliability of the developed scale was investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry, correlation, and univariate regression analysis to assess the relationships between email addiction tendency scores and regional gray and white matter volumes, depression, and nonverbal reasoning abilities in a large sample of healthy young adults (n = 1152; mean age, 20.69 ± 1.84 years). The content validity ratio, content validity index, principal component analysis, and confirmatory factorial analysis all showed that the email addiction tendency scale (EATS) has high validity. Additionally, the Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency and split-half reliability coefficient showed that the EATS has high reliability. We found that email addiction tendency scores were significantly negatively correlated with nonverbal reasoning. We also observed that the email addiction tendency scores were significantly and positively correlated with depression symptom severity and gray matter volume of the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPC) in subjects. These results indicate that email addiction tendency is associated with lower mental health outcomes and increased GMV in the left RLPC.

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More information

Published date: 22 September 2022

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 504959
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504959
ISSN: 2076-3425
PURE UUID: 9c5b7206-f951-42d7-87a8-4b9f64939a9c
ORCID for Daniele Magistro: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2554-3701

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Date deposited: 23 Sep 2025 16:43
Last modified: 24 Sep 2025 02:18

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Contributors

Author: Saeid Sadeghi
Author: Hikaru Takeuchi
Author: Bita Shalani
Author: Yasuyuki Taki
Author: Rui Nouchi
Author: Ryoichi Yokoyama
Author: Yuka Kotozaki
Author: Seishu Nakagawa
Author: Atsushi Sekiguchi
Author: Kunio Iizuka
Author: Sugiko Hanawa
Author: Tsuyoshi Araki
Author: Carlos Makoto Miyauchi
Author: Kohei Sakaki
Author: Takayuki Nozawa
Author: Shigeyuki Ikeda
Author: Susumu Yokota
Author: Daniele Magistro ORCID iD
Author: Yuko Sassa
Author: Ryuta Kawashima

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