The relationship between secondary school students' digital addiction level and their reading comprehension skills

The innovations brought by developing technology have brought developing communication tools with them. Communication tools, which were useful at the beginning, have taken up more space in our lives over time than they should. However, sociological and psychological effects began to emerge. Subsequently, the new generation who grew up with technology was the group that saw the most impact. This effect naturally emerged as positive and negative effects in educational life. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of secondary students' digital addiction levels on their reading comprehension skills. With digital technologies becoming an inseparable part of daily life, the intense interest of individuals, especially in adolescence, in digital media tools creates various effects on educational and cognitive processes. In this context, the phenomenon of digital addiction is considered a potential risk factor on students' reading comprehension skills, which are directly related to their attention, focus and information processing skills. The study used the relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the study consists of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students studying in various state secondary schools in Malatya in the 2024-2025 academic year. As a data collection tool, the Digital Addiction Scale, which was adapted into Turkish by Kaçmaz, whose validity and reliability have been previously proven, was used to measure the digital addiction levels of students, and the Reading Comprehension Scale, which was developed by Epçaçan, was used to determine the levels of reading comprehension. The obtained data were analyzed through a statistical program. In the analysis process, descriptive statistics, as well as correlation and regression analyze, were performed. The research findings revealed that there is a significant and negative relationship between students' digital addiction levels and their reading comprehension skills. Accordingly, as the level of digital addiction increases, students' reading comprehension skills decrease. In addition, it has been determined that variables such as age, gender, grade level and daily digital media usage duration also have an impact on these situations. As a result of the research, it was determined that digital addiction has a negative effect on reading comprehension, which is one of the basic academic skills of students. In line with these findings, it is recommended that digital media literacy training for students be increased and school-based interventions be developed to make digital tool use conscious and balanced.