The effect of digital game addiction on physical activity attitudes of children between 10 and 14: The case of Kütahya province

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of digital game addiction on physical activity attitudes of middle school students. Relational method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. A total of 1155 participants, 571 girls (49.4%) and 584 boys (50.6%), aged 10-14 years participated in the study. Participants' mean years of age was 11.59 (SD = 1.34). Data were collected using "Youth Physical Activity Attitude Scale" developed by Simonton et al. (2021) and adapted into Turkish by Uyhan et al. (2023), and "Digital Game Addiction Scale for Children" developed by Hazar and Hazar (2017). Descriptive statistics, MANOVA and canonical correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, there was no significant interaction between the independent variables of gender, grade and sports participation (p>.05). As a result of the lack of interaction, main effects findings were examined. According to the findings, a statistically significant difference was determined between the positive attitude towards physical activity and the class variable (p<.017). Moreover, the level of digital game addiction of middle school students was determined as generally high. This level of addiction differed according to gender, class and sports participation. In addition, students' physical activity attitudes were also found to be high. Their physical activity attitudes differed according to class and sports participation, but were not affected by gender. Lastly, a moderate significant relationship was determined between digital game addiction and physical activity attitude. As a result, middle school students' digital game addiction affects their physical activity attitudes. The findings show that digital game addiction decreases positive attitude towards physical activity and increases negative attitude towards physical activity.