The relationship between the internet addictions, the peer relations and the levels of social attendance of students athletes

The aim of this research is to examine the relationships between internet addiction, peer relations, and social connectedness levels among athlete students. Based on the research findings in the literature, the study was developed accordingly. The study investigates the relationships between internet addiction, peer relationships, and social connectedness levels in student athletes at the middle and high school levels, as well as comparing the demographic information of the participants with these scales. A survey was administered to 603 individuals for this research. However, 226 students were not included in the study as they did not specify any sports branch. Out of the remaining 377 students, 168 were male and 209 were female. The data collection tools used in the study were Young's Internet Addiction Short Scale, Peer Relations Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and Personal Information Form (Appendices 1-4). The data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 software packages. Skewness and kurtosis values were examined to determine whether the scale results exhibited a normal distribution. As they demonstrated a normal distribution, the t-test was used for comparing continuous data between two independent groups, and one-way ANOVA test was used for comparing continuous data among more than two independent groups. Following the ANOVA test, the Tukey test was used as a complementary post-hoc analysis to determine differences. The relationship between continuous data was examined using Pearson correlation test. A statistical significance level of p<0.05 was accepted. Male student athletes showed higher levels of internet addiction and social connectedness. There is a significant and inverse relationship between internet addiction and peer relationships. There is a strong and significant relationship between peer relationships and social connectedness levels. Engaging in team sports increases internet addiction in student athletes.