A Review of the Graduate Theses on Gaming Addiction in Turkey

Abstract

Gaming addition is attracting the attention of more and more researchers every day. Diagnostic criteria defined by World Health Organization (WHO) and American Psychiatric Association (APA) for gaming disorder or internet gaming disorder have caused a rapid increase in the number of studies on the subject. A similar case applies to the studies conducted in Turkey. Regarded as a type of behavioral addiction, gaming addiction is observed in almost every group while it affects children and adolescents in particular. Affecting a wide range of people, gaming addiction can be seen as one of the problems of future because daily life is becoming more technological. This study accordingly aimed to review gaming addiction in graduate theses in Turkey. The research used the document analysis method of qualitative research methods, and the research sample composed of 28 graduate theses. It was found in the research that the studies started to increase after 2013, and the actual concentration was seen in 2018. The research studies were conducted primarily on children and adolescents followed by young and adult groups. It was found that the most used research design was the quantitative research design and none of the studies utilized the qualitative research design on its own. The most used research model was the survey model, and the correlation analysis was found to be the most used data analysis technique. It was also observed in the research that gaming addiction was studied along with both negative concepts such as depression, anxiety, somatization, and obesity and positive concepts such as self-regulation, subjective happiness, satisfaction with life, and social support.