A model for explaining digital addiction in adolescents: The role of self-perception, social-emotional learning, parent and friend relationships

This study was aimed at examining the levels of digital addiction in adolescents with a multiple linear regression created with self-perception, parental relationships, peer relationships, and social-emotional learning skills. Since the research aims to determine the existence of change between two or more variables, it is a correlational study for prediction. The study group consisted of 504 high school students determined by the random assignment method among the students studying in high schools in Erzincan in the 2022–2023 academic year. The data were obtained through the Personal Information Form, the Digital Addiction Scale, the Adolescent-Parent Relationships Scale, the Friendship Quality Scale, the Self-Perception Scale, and the Social and Emotional Learning Scale, and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was used to analyze the data. According to the results obtained from the study, self-concept, parental relationships, and social and emotional learning skills were found to be significant predictors of adolescents' digital addiction levels, while friendship quality variable was not significant predictor. In addition, the model developed within the scope of the research explains approximately 27% of the total variance of digital addiction in adolescents.