Examining the relationship between digital game addiction and physical activity in secondary school students

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between digital game addiction and physical activity among secondary school students. The research utilized a quantitative relational survey method and was carried out with the participation of 522 secondary school students studying at Cumhuriyet, Gazi, Fatih, and Borsa Middle Schools in Bartın, Turkey. To collect data for the study, the "Demographic Information Form", "Digital Game Addiction Scale", and "Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Scale" were administered to the students. The data obtained in the research were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 software. Initially, analyses were performed to determine whether the data showed a normal distribution. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicated that the data did not exhibit a normal distribution (Digital Game Addiction Scale Kolmogorov-Smirnov = .000; df = 521; p < .05; Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Scale Kolmogorov-Smirnov = .000; df = 521; p < .05). Since the data did not exhibit a normal distribution, non-parametric methods were employed in the analyses: the Mann-Whitney U Test for two-category independent variables and the Kruskal-Wallis H Test for variables with three or more categories. When a significant difference was identified following comparisons, the source of the difference was determined using the Mann-Whitney U Test with Bonferroni correction. Additionally, the data obtained in the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis (Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation). The analysis results showed significant differences between students' levels of digital game addiction and variables such as gender, height, grade level, digital game playing time, and the daily duration spent on physical activity. Furthermore, significant differences were determined between students' physical activity levels and variables such as gender, height, weight, grade level, mother's education level, father's education level, digital game playing time, and the daily duration spent on physical activity. It was concluded that dijital game addiction negatively affects the physical activitiy level of secondary school students and the importance of implementing physical activity programs was emphasized.