Internet addiction and physical fitness levels and problem solving skills

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the level of physical fitness of secondary and high school students and internet addiction and problem solving skills. 197 students (98 boys and 99 girls) aged between 11-17 years who were studying at Nevşehir Private Doga College participated voluntarily. The physical fitness levels of the subjects were measured by the EUROFIT test battery, the internet usage levels were measured by a questionnaire developed by Balta and Horzum (2008) and the problem solving skills were measured on a traverse course setup. Prior to the study, the permission of the Ethics Committee was taken from the Hitit University Non-Invasive Research Ethics Committee and written permission was obtained from Doğa College Management and the Voluntary Consent Form from the participants' legal guardians. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 22.0 statistical analysis program. Descriptive statistics were given as means and standard deviations, frequency and percentage tables. Independent samples t test, chi-square test and Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) were used to analyze data. According to the results, the subjects' internet addiction level was found to be "average internet users". Male subjects were found to be advantageous to their female counterparts in problem solving skills. There was no correlation between physical fitness components and internet addiction (p>.05) but there was a negative and low level relationship between internet addiction and problem solving skills (r=-.17; p<.05). Internet addiction scores did not differ by gender [t(195=-.80; p=.42], and there was no difference between internet addiction scores by educational level (secondary school vs. high school) [t(195)=-1.603; p=.11]. As a result, it was concluded that there was no relationship between the physical fitness levels of the subjects and internet addiction levels of the subjects but the problem solving ability was negatively affected as the level of internet addiction increased. The reason to this was thought to be the difference between the focus points of the subjects. It is recommended to conduct similar researches on another groups to test the findings of this study. It will also contribute to the literature.