Relationship of digital game addiction and psychological well-being, life satisfaction and self-efficacy among middle school students

This study aims to examine digital game addiction in middle school students in terms of personal variables such as gender, duration of owning digital devices, and primary purposes of using digital devices, as well as psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy variables. The study includes 490 middle school students. The research utilized the Children's Digital Game Addiction Scale, Stirling Emotional and Psychological Well-being Scale for Children, Life Satisfaction Scale for Children, Self-Efficacy Scale for Children, and a Personal Information Form. The relationships between variables were examined using the Pearson correlation method, and the predictive power of psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy variables on digital game addiction in middle school students was assessed through multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicate significant relationships between digital game addiction and other variables. The analysis shows that male students have significantly higher digital game addiction scores compared to females. There was no significant difference in the average digital game addiction scores among students in different grade levels. On the other hand, relationships were found between the duration and purpose of owning digital devices and digital game addiction scores. Among students who own digital devices, there was a significant difference in digital game addiction scores between those who have owned them for 5 years or more, 0-1 year, and 3-5 years, as well as those who have never owned them. Regarding the primary purpose of using digital devices, students who indicated messaging/video calling and watching movies/series as their main purposes had significantly lower digital game addiction scores compared to those who used digital devices for gaming and social media sharing purposes. Significant relationships were found between digital game addiction and psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy variables. While psychological well-being and life satisfaction variables did not significantly predict digital game addiction, it was found that the self-efficacy variable was a significant predictor of digital game addiction.