The examination of the relationship between the social problem solving skills and digital game addiction tendecy of pre-school children (5-6 years old)

The aim of this reasearch is to examine the relationship between the social problem solving skills and digital game addiction tendecy of 5-6 year old children who are in the preschool period. In this context, it has been examined whether there is a significant relationship between the digital game addiction tendencies of children and gender, age, duration of pre-school education, educational status of the parents, working status of the parents, the age of the parents and the income level of the family regarding the variables of the research. Correlational survey model was used in the research by using quantitative research methods. The population of the research consisted of 5-6 year old children group studying in the public preschools and nursery classes in the city of Karabük. The sample of the study consisted of 290 preschool children studying in Karabük city centre during the 2020-2021 academic year and their parents. The sample group was selected using simple random sampling method. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation analysis were used to analyze the data collected in the research. Data collection tools were the personal information form prepared by the researcher, DOBE (Digital Game Addiction Tendency Scale) for preschool children prepared by Budak (2020), which can be filled out by the parents, and WSPÇ ( Wally Social Problem Solving Skills Scale) prepared by Yılmaz (2012). Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, One Way ANOVA, Post-Hoc tests((LSD,Tamhame's T2,Game's Howell) and Pearson correlation methods were used to analyze the data. SPSS 22 and Lisrel package programs were used. DFA was used to reconfirm the factor structure of the scales. The research findings show that the digital game addiction tendencies of the children included in the study are moderate and their social problem-solving skills are also moderate. Besides, there are significant differences between the digital game addiction tendencies and the variables such as gender, parental education level, family income level, and parents' working status. As a result, it has been concluded that as the total score averages of preschool children's digital game addiction tendencies increased, their social problem solving skills decreased and they had a negative relationship with each other. Key words: Digital game, digital game addiction, social problem, social problem solving skills.