Content area
The escalating exposure of young children to digital gaming necessitates a critical examination of its behavioral impacts. However, evidence regarding its influence on aggressive behavior remains limited. This study investigated the relationship between digital play addiction tendency and our dimensions of aggression: physical aggression, relational aggression, self-directed aggression, and aggression against objects. This study employed a cross-sectional design, gathering data through parent assessments. The sample consisted of 744 children aged 4 to 6 years. The average age of the participants was 33.5, with 82% of the sample being female. The participants came from a lower (27%), middle (37%), and high (36%) socioeconomic background. The data were analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach to test the hypothesized relationships. The main findings from the SEM analysis indicated that a higher digital play addiction tendency was a significant positive predictor of all four dimensions of aggression. These results highlight the potential adverse effects of digital play addiction tendency on the development of maladaptive behaviors in early childhood. This study underscores the urgent need to develop strategies that foster healthier digital media consumption and mitigate the adverse effects of digital gaming on children’s developmental outcomes.
Details
Social Behavior;
Influence of Technology;
Cognitive Processes;
Behavior Patterns;
Young Children;
Preschool Children;
Modeling (Psychology);
Interpersonal Competence;
Time;
Interpersonal Relationship;
Environmental Influences;
Skill Development;
Behavior Development;
Scientific Research;
Psychological Patterns;
Child Development;
Creativity;
Video Games;
Emotional Response;
Statistical Data;
Aggression;
Age Groups;
Behavior Problems;
Cognitive Development
; Aykanat Yüksel Büşra Yüksel 2
; Somuncu, Çoksağır Büşra 3
; Ali, Amira Mohammed 4
; Laranjeira, Carlos 5
; Yıldırım Murat 6
1 Department of Early Childhood Education, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Ağrı 04100, Turkey
2 Department of Early Childhood Education, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey
3 Department of Early Childhood Education, Anadolu University, Eskişehir 26470, Turkey
4 Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Smouha, Alexandria 21527, Egypt
5 School of Health Sciences, Campus 2, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal, Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 5, Rua das Olhalvas, 2414-016 Leiria, Portugal, Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7000-801 Évora, Portugal
6 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen Üniversitesi, Ağrı 04100, Turkey, Psychology Research Center, Khazar University, Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan