The investigation of the obstacles in secondary school students' participation in physical activity and the levels of digital game addiction

The aim of this study is to examine the factors that prevent secondary school students from participating in physical activities and the levels of digital game addiction and to offer solutions in this regard. A total of 946 students, 525 girls and 421 boys, who are studying in secondary education institutions in Adilcevaz District of Bitlis province, participated in this study. In this study, descriptive model was used among quantitative research methods. The data were collected with the Factors Preventing High School Students' Participation in Physical Activities Scale (FİZAKEFO) developed by Özbek (2019) and the Digital Game Addiction Scale (DOBÖ) developed by Yalçın Irmak & Erdoğan (2015). Statistical analysis of the data obtained in the study was carried out using appropriate statistical programs. According to the results of the study, significant differences were found in gender, sports history, technological device use and digital game playing time variables for digital game addiction level, and in some sub-factors of all variables for barriers to participating in physical activities. The rate of female students not participating in physical activities within the framework of school and friend-environment sub-factors is higher than male students, and according to the facility-club sub-factor, the rate of participants living in the village not participating in physical activities is higher than the participants living in the district center. Participants who play 5 hours or more of digital games have higher levels of non-participation in physical activity and digital game addiction in the sub-factors of family, school, education system compared to participants in other groups. As the number of technological devices used by the participants increases, their digital game addiction levels also increase. One of the most important results is that students with increased digital game addiction have decreased participation in physical activity. In general, it is reflected in the results of the research that the participants' digital game addiction levels are high and their participation rates in physical activity are low. With this study, it was emphasized how important it is to teach, adopt and disseminate the negative effects of digital game addiction on these individuals in the critical period, the obstacles to students' participation in physical activities and appropriate solutions to this situation, especially to teachers in schools and parents at home. Keywords: Physical activity, digital gaming, addiction