Examination of the relationship between digital addiction and digital risk-taking, correct usage, cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation

Digital addiction is showing itself with increasing momentum compared to previous generations. Individuals encounter many risk factors throughout their digital experiences. In order to avoid the undesirable consequences of these risks, it is important to understand the role of various psychological and cognitive variables in the relationship between digital risks and digital addiction. The aim of this study is to examine the relationships, indirect effects and mediator roles between the digital addiction level of university students and their digital risk taking, correct use, cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation skills. Correlational research method was used in this study. The data was carried out with 44 different university in 3 stages in the 2022 academic year. 304 in the first stage; 342 in the second stage; In the third stage, it was obtained with the voluntary participation of 1564 students. "Personal Form", "Digital Addiction Scale", "Digital Risk-Taking Scale", "Digital Citizenship Scale", "Cognitive Flexibility Scale" and "Emotion Regulation Scale" were used in the data collection process of the research. The "Digital Risk-Taking Scale" was developed within the scope of the study. The data was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). As a result of the study, it was determined that in the relationship between digital risk taking and digital addiction, cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation variables played a mediating role, while the mediation test for correct usage variable did not yield significant results. Recommendations addressing digital risks and addiction have been proposed.