Abstract:

The study aimed at studying the level of digital gaming addiction of high school students 6, 7 and 8 and whether the level of digital gaming addiction of students creates a difference in terms of social trends (social harmony, material and violence avoidance trends, school and family status, goals and ideals). The study included 987 high school students from all over Mersin who studied in public high schools. The data of the study was obtained through the "Social Trends Scale in 11-20-Year-Old Students" and the "Middle School Students' Online Game Addiction" two scales and a form of information in which the demographic characteristics of students and the digital gaming characteristics are asked. According to the findings from the study, more than half of the high school students who participated in the study are in the risk group of digital gaming addiction. The study found a statistically meaningful relationship between the participants’ levels of digital gaming addiction and family income, mother and father’s educational status and age, on the other hand, the gender, the type of game and the time of play. High school students have observed a significant difference in their social tendencies in terms of social harmony, material avoidance and family status sub-dimensions according to the levels of digital game addiction, but no significant difference has been observed in the sub-dimensions of violence avoidance, school status and goals and ideals.

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