Investigation of the relationship between 60-72 months children's digital game addiction and emotional behavioral problems

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between digital game addiction tendencies and emotional behavioral problems of 60–72-month-old children. The relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The population of the study consists of 60–72-month-old children receiving pre-school education in the 2023-2024 academic year in Kocaeli province. The research sample consists of 250 children determined by the appropriate sampling method, one of the non-random sampling methods. 'Digital Game Addiction Scale' developed by Budak (2020), 'Strengths and Difficulties' survey developed by Guvenir and 'Personal Information Form' prepared by the researcher were used to collect data in the study. Data analysis was done with the SPSS program. According to the findings of the study, it was determined that most of the children included in the study had the lowest level of digital game addiction tendencies, their emotional behavioral problems were at an abnormal level, and there was a significant relationship between digital game addiction and emotional behavioral problems. It was determined that there was a significant difference between digital game addiction and the Toplam score of the digital game addiction scale in the variables of gender and having a digital device, while there was no significant difference in the variables of number of siblings, mother, and father education level. In the Toplam score of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, a significant difference was found according to gender, while it was concluded that there was no significant difference according to the number of siblings, mother, and father education, and having a digital device. As a result, it was concluded that as the Toplam mean scores of 60–72-month-old children's digital game addiction tendencies increased, emotional behavioral problems increased and had a positive relationship with each other.