Digital Game Addiction in Adolescents: Perceived Parental Attitudes and Other Affecting Factors

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: 2, 159 - 168, 17.07.2025

Hülya Kulakçı Altıntaş , Enise Sürücü , Mehmet Murat Topaloğlu

https://doi.org/10.31125/globnursinsights.1744466

Abstract

Aim: Digital game addiction is a significant public health problem, having a dramatic increase among adolescents. This study was designed to determine adolescents' perceived parental attitudes and digital game addiction levels and to evaluate the predictive factors of digital game addiction.
Material and Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design. The population consisted of high school students in a city in Turkey (N= 680). Data were collected via a Personal Information Form, the Parental Attitude Scale, and the Digital Game Addiction Scale. Multiple regression were used for data analysis.
Results: Of the participants, 25.6% were found to have digital game addiction. It was determined that playing digital games (β=0.261), school absenteeism due to playing digital games (β=0.259), earning money from digital games (β=0.179), sibling's digital game playing status (β=0.073), playing digital games more than 2 hours a day (β=0.221), protective/demanding parental attitude (β=0.088) and authoritarian parental attitude (β=0.151) significantly affected digital game addiction. However, it was found that age, gender, grade point average, class level, democratic parental attitude, having own computer, parents' digital game playing status and daily time spent on social media did not significantly affect digital game addiction.
Conclusions: Technology restriction or freedom is not a practical approach to decreasing digital game addiction among adolescents. It is recommended to develop studies to increase the digital competence and digital literacy levels of adolescents.
Implication for nursing practice/management or policy: School health nurses should provide education and counselling and plan strategies for the prevention of digital game addiction in schools.

Keywords

Adolescent , Digital game addiction , Digital gaming , Nurses , Parental attitude

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